Sugar We're Going Down Swinging
by AlphaWriter1
Summary: Maya has always been a loyal and protective friend. She did whatever it took to keep Riley happen. But what happens when Maya has to choose between something that could break her heart, and the happiness of her best friend? What does she do when she's faced with the choice between true love, and her very best friend? Is one boy worth a friendship that she's had for years? LUCAYA
1. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Maya Hart was a loyal best friend. Nobody would argue that fact-and not just because they were afraid of her. It was just that they couldn't argue that and have solid evidence to back up their case. Because she was a protective, loyal best friend who would do anything to keep Riley Matthews happy.

Everybody knew it. It was why, no matter what horrible things Maya did, Riley's parents insisted on keep her around. It was why they always did their best to treat her as though she were their own child. It was why they loved her, and made a point of doing everything they could to make sure Maya fully understood how loved she truly was.

Even Riley's boyfriend knew that if he ever dared to hurt her-not that sweet, lovable, Mr. Perfect could ever harm fly-Maya would come after him and tear each hair off of his head individually before force feeding it to him. Other girls knew that if they looked at Lucas Friar for too long Maya was going to make them regret it, to protect Riley's heart. And boys knew that if they said anything inappropriate about Riley, they had to be on the lookout for Maya long before they had to be on the lookout for Lucas.

So, Maya was a great friend. Everybody deserved to have a friend like her in their life. She was loyal and protective. She was hilarious and she was loving. She'd do anything to cheer her friends up and she gave the best advice.

Which was why it was so strange for Farkle Minkus to be watching the scene he was seeing unfold around him.

Maya was sitting in the library at school, across from Lucas at a table with her chemistry book in front of her. Science had never been her strong suit, but she really was a smart girl and she hated to see her grades slip.

Besides, after her mother had remarried Shawn Hunter, the best friend of Cory Matthews and the godfather of Riley, Maya had been forced to start attending more classes, finishing her homework, and studying for tests. Shawn had entered her life, and as much as she loved him and respected him, he had started to lay down the law for her.

Lucas has his own notes out, but his eyes were focused on Maya, that knowing, smirking half-grin that he only seemed to ever have for Maya plastered across his face. He was leaning towards her, eyes twinkling. Maya, meanwhile, was running her hands through her long, curly blonde hair and _giggling _at whatever it was Lucas was saying.

Now, Farkle had known Maya for a very long time, and he couldn't recall a single instance where he had ever seen her _giggle _before. Maya just wasn't that type of girl. She was more of the silent, hard to please type of girl. Most of the boys who liked her, were interested in her hard to get attitude, after all.

Then again…maybe Farkle had missed a thing or two. After all, Maya and Lucas had always had a special relationship. She had been able to tease him about his Texan roots, and he had been able to charm her to the verge of blushing. They had unique little nicknames for one another, and he had always been one to immediately do whatever it was that she asked.

After all, he could remember when Billy Ross had been tormenting him back in the seventh grade. When Maya had heard the horrible things that were said, she'd taken it all calmly, assuring her friends that Lucas would take care of whoever the bully was, because that was the type of guy he was. Yet, when Lucas had denied that idea, Maya had been devastated. And when Billy was revealed as the bully? Lucas had pinned him against the wall and asked Maya if he was doing what she wanted, stopping only when Maya jumped up onto his back, latching on and refusing to let go.

When a business had to be started for seventh grade, they had partnered up and Maya had done the right thing, in order to keep Lucas happy. They both would go against their typical behavior patterns in order to give the other one whatever it was that they wanted.

And when Lucas had wanted to scare the girls? Farkle hadn't had the slightest idea where Maya had lived. It was _Lucas _who had shown him the way, and led him directly to her window, as though he had been there countless times before. And something about Maya's reaction to seeing them there told Farkle that Lucas _had _been to her window before.

So, maybe he had been wrong.

Maybe Maya had always been one to giggle, when it was Lucas who was sparking the reaction from her. And she had always been the one to get him to laugh at himself and keep on smiling, no matter what it was she did to him.

Still…what didn't quite make sense was that Maya was sitting there, alone, with Riley's boyfriend and that the pair looked too cozy for a study date. And Maya was _giggling, _while Lucas blushed and grinned, winking at her and tipping his imaginary hat.

Maya was, after all, an incredibly protective best friend and one of the most loyal people that Farkle had ever met. It just didn't make sense that she would be sneaking around behind her best friend's back with her best friend's boyfriend.

But….maybe it did make sense….

**)(*&^! #$%^&*))(*&^# ! #$%^&*()(*&^% #$%^&*(&^%$#**

"Come on, Ranger Roy-we've been here for _hours _and I'm starving. Can't we take a break? Or at least move this party over to Pinkberry or something?" Maya whined, pulling his chemistry book away from him.

"Maya," Lucas sighed, reaching towards her to grab his book back, his note back sliding onto his lap. "Stop-we have a test tomorrow and you _need _an A if you want to maintain the average you need to get into that AP class next year," Lucas reminded her.

"You're a buzzkill," Maya glared, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm Ranger Roy and I'll be here all week," He winked, pretending to tip a cowboy hat towards her, that half smile in place.

Maya giggled, reaching up and running a hand through her hair. She'd promised Lucas that if he got her an A on her test the next day in chemistry, her worst class, she would stop calling him Ranger Rick for the week. Of course, as always, he fell right into her trap and agreed to it without any stimulation's. Meaning she could freely refer to him as Ranger Roy until their deal was off.

"Lucas, why are you being so serious all of a sudden?" Maya asked through her giggles.

"What are you talking about? Im cracking jokes!" Lucas said, holding his hands up in defense. "I just want you to pass," He assured her.

"I _will, _because you're an amazing tutor and we've been working all week," Maya complained. "But you're making me focus on studying and we met at the library, which we never do, and that's the first joke you've made all night," Maya pointed out, narrowing her denim blue eyes at him, her long, curly, pale blonde lashes framing her round, innocent eyes.

"Alright-alright!" He shook his head. "Let's go-I'll take you to Starbucks, but we're done studying. I have to talk to you about something serious, okay?" He sighed, running a hand through his thick, carelessly style, honey brown hair.

"What's going on?" She asked, climbing to her feet and grabbing her bag.

"We'll talk about it later, okay? I don't want to freak you out or anything. It's not even that big of a deal, promise," he smiled at her, packing up his backpack.

Then, he swung an arm around her shoulders and started leading her towards his car.

Maya wished he wouldn't do that, though. She was desperate enough to keep her chemistry grade as high as possible that she'd go to him and beg for a tutor. And she loved his friendship and their careless banter too much to ever truly stop being his friend.

That didn't mean she thrived in spending alone time with him, though. Spending alone time with him reminded her of that crush she'd had back in the seventh grade, from the first moment she'd seen him. And while she had quickly gotten over it, there was still a part of her-a part that would always exist-that wondered what could have been, if she'd told Riley how she'd felt. If she'd fought for a chance with him instead of stepping aside to let her friend do whatever it was that made her happy.

And being with him-just the two of them-made it so easy to forget that he was with Riley. It made it impossible for her to realize that they were only ever friends, that they would only ever _be _friends. And that wasn't good, because what was she supposed to do if she was the one who hurt Riley?

**)(*&^%$# $%^&*(&^%$# $%^&*&^%$#$%^&*(**

It was wrong of Lucas to constantly check out Maya while he was dating Riley. It wasn't fair to his brunette girlfriend and it wasn't cool to put Maya in a situation where she could lose her best friend when she wasn't even doing anything wrong.

But, that was exactly what Lucas was doing every single time he saw Maya. He couldn't help but take in the way her long, buttery blonde hair fell down her back, tumbling in a thick, soft cascade of bright yellow locks to the small of her back. He could get lost in her navy blue eyes, so wide and innocent they hinted at the little girl who had almost been broken apart from her horrible home life.

And as she got older, she just got more and more beautiful. Her face kept that heart shape, her button nose slightly upturned in a way that looked adorable on her. She had pink, full lips and a smile that could brighten up his entire day. Her skin seemed to always have some sort of natural tan to it, and her legs went on for days, despite the fact that she stood at just over five foot, having barely grown at all since she was in the seventh grade.

So she was short-but for what she lacked in height, she made up for with her curves. Maya could easily turn the head of any boy at school. She didn't have to dress any special way-she couldn't hide the way her hips jutted out from her tiny waist, or the way her chest stuck out so much farther than her flat stomach. She had the type of body any girl would kill for-the type that even her own best friend was envious of.

What made her even more attractive, though, to Lucas at least, was that she didn't even seem to realize just how beautiful she was. She was constantly going on about how gorgeous Riley was, acting oblivious to the fact that she was every bit as pretty-if not even more so.

Lucas wasn't supposed to be thinking that way, though. He was supposed to think that _Riley _was the most beautiful girl in school. He shouldn't even notice Maya and her appearance. After all, he had picked _Riley. _

Only…he hadn't really picked Riley. It had all just sort of happened and, before he fully understood what was happening, he and Riley had gotten together and had earned the title of the 'golden couple'. They were called 'cutest couple'. They were the ones that everybody gushed about and took bets on how long it would be before they got married, about whether they'd still be together at the ten year reunion.

Maybe that was why Lucas couldn't bring himself to enjoy the relationship. Maybe he didn't like everybody acting as though he _belonged _with Riley and just _had _to be with her. But the reason didn't matter very much.

He wanted to be with Maya, but he couldn't figure out how to end things with Riley and still have that open as a possibility.

"Spill," Maya ordered as soon as he slipped into his chair across from her at Starbucks.

He shook his head, unable to contain his smile caused by her ability to always cut straight to the point. He slid her her iced, white chocolate mocha latte-no whipped cream-and played with the water bottle in his hands, unsure of where to start.

"I think I'm going to break up with Riley,' He blurted out.

"What?" Maya asked, her voice blank and lacking emotion.

He kept his gaze down, focused on the water bottle in his lap. He'd blurted it out and he couldn't take it back. Not that he wanted to, because he meant it. But he hadn't planned on telling her in such a fashion. He'd wanted it all to come out carefully, thoughtfully-so that she knew how much this was affecting him as well.

After all, Maya was a loyal friend and she was a protective friend, but that wasn't just for Riley. She was the same way about Farkle and he wanted to believed that, if the opportunity ever came up, she would be just as protective of him as she was of the other two.

"Did I just hear that right?" She asked him, eyes locked on him, even though he was refusing to look at her, and her jaw dropped as she waited for him to answer her.

"I want to break up with her….I've wanted to for a while now, actually," He admitted, finally looking at her.

She studied him, deep blue eyes locked on his own as she tried to figure out just what he was feeling. Taking in the pain in his hazel eyes, though, it was clear to her that he was struggling just as much as Riley would be.

"Why?"

"I don't love her…not the way she loves me, and that's not fair to her," He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Who is she?" Maya asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

He really wished she wouldn't do that, because it made her chest look incredible-it drew attention to the curves there and it brought them up just enough to enhance her already ample cleavage. And he didn't want to think about what she'd do to him if she ever caught him gawking at her like that.

"What do you mean?" He asked, jaw dropped at how spot-on she was about the situation at hand.

Then again…Maya had always been able to read him like a book. It was another thing that he liked her about her-it was easy. Everything was easy with her, from their banter to their conversations to their understanding of one another. It didn't take any effort, which was the way he thought it should be.

"You don't just fall out of love with somebody unless you've just fallen _in _love with somebody else," Maya rolled her eyes. "So, who is she?"

"I can't tell you that," Lucas sighed.

"Why not? I deserve to know. Who could possibly be better than Riley?"

"Maya…"He sighed.

"Fine-don't tell me. Just do me a favor? Break it to her gently, alright? And don't ever let her know there was another girl. Give it some time before you try to get with this girl, okay? Riley's fragile, but this is hurting you, too, and I can't stand to see you both heartbroken. I wouldn't know who to hurt," She said, the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile at the end of her statement.

"You'd never hurt me," He smiled at her.

"I would if you hurt Riley," She answered flatly.

"Don't worry-I'm not going to get with this girl anytime soon. She's sort of hard to get," He told her, flashing her a sly grin.

"I'm watching you, Ranger Rick," Maya said, reaching over and messing up his hair. "You're up to something and I'm not going to rest until I know what it is," She declared.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," He winked.

And just like that they were back to driving one another insane. She was back to calling him a cowboy and making countless western jokes that had honestly gotten quite old by this point, but were still funny, at least to him. Actually, most of their classmates still laughed at the jokes, but that was more of because of his reactions to them and the interactions they had regarding the comments. They'd all heard all of the nicknames by that point. They'd seen all of Lucas's pantomimes. But there was always something different between their interactions that got just one more laugh out of them.

"Good," She grinned. "Because these jokes are never going away," She assured him.

"Wouldn't trade it for the world," He replied, tipping his imaginary hat at her, basking in the way she tossed her head back and laughed as though it were the funniest thing she'd ever seen in her life.

**(*&^%$# #$%^&*(^%$#%^&*(&^%$#%^&***

Riley Matthews had loved her life since freshman year when Lucas had asked her to Homecoming. Everything had been going absolutely perfectly since he had first asked her out and their relationship had become official. They had, after all, known each other since seventh grade and had pretty much been a couple since they'd first met.

Sure, she might have had that short while when she was terrified that Lucas preferred Maya, but that had all quickly faded away. And she had happily been with Lucas for almost two years. Everything was going great.

"Riley!" Topanga Matthews, her mother, called from the living room of their apartment. "Lucas is here to see you!" She shouted.

Riley shot up, immediately racing towards her vanity and running a brush through her thick, glossy mane of dark chocolate colored waves. She rubbed at the makeup surrounding her almond shaped, dark brown eyes to try and get rid of the smudges and then straightened her oversized tee shirt-Lucas's shirt, actually-to make sure it fell just right over her leggings.

Then she raced out of her bedroom and towards the living room where Lucas was standing in the doorway, looking just as adorable as he always did. She shot a smile at her mom and stepped out into the hallway with Lucas, closing the door behind her.

"What's up? Did we have plans tonight?" Riley asked, flashing him an innocent smile.

Riley had always been tall, so she stood just about a head shorter than Lucas, who was one of the tallest boys in the grade. She reached for him, moving to give him a hug, but he took a small step back, just so that he was out of her grasp.

"What's wrong?" She frowned.

"Listen…Riley, I need to tell you something, and I'm not really sure how to say it," Lucas sighed, reaching back to scratch at the back of his neck nervously.

Of course, whenever he did that, it was because he was nervous. She knew all of his ticks and tells by that point. Nobody knew him better than she did-except for Maya, who always seemed to be able to predict what was going to come next with him. But Maya had always been good at understanding people. She could read Riley and Farkle just as well.

"It's just…I think that we were better off as friends. This whole relationship thing isn't very….I just…I want to break up," He blurted out the end of his statement.

His eyes grew wide at his outburst and Riley froze staring up at him in wide-eyed wonder as she tried to make sense of his words.

"What? Why? What brought all of this on?" Riley asked, voice soft.

"It's just…I can't be with you, okay? It's not fair to you or to me, because I don't feel the same way about you as you do about me. And I don't think that I ever will," He sighed, trying his best to be gentle.

"Lucas, I just-"

"Riley, please don't, okay? I just want to be friends. This whole thing has gone on too long and I can't pretend anymore. Do you know how long it took for me to get up the courage to actually do this?" He sighed.

"Lucas, why are you-"

"I can't keep pretending that I'm into this, because I'm not. I just want to be friends, okay?" He cut her off, not wanting to fight with her or be talked out of his decision from the tears that he was sure to come if she actually started to form any finished sentences.

After all, every other time he'd come close to ending things, he had been talked out of it by that little voice in his head that told him he couldn't hurt Riley. But after his conversation with Maya, he had to end things. He couldn't try to be with her any longer, not when being with Maya was so tempting-even if the blonde hadn't given him any signs that she'd ever want anything more with him.

"Stop cutting me off!" Riley snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. "I _love _you and you're telling me that it's all over now. It's not fair that you get to make that decision on your own," She glared at him, her eyes hardening.

"Riley, I don't want to hurt you, but I can't keep pretending," He shook his head.

"Pretending? You were pretending this whole time? Did you ever love me? Or was it all just a lie?" She asked, face shattering as the hurt took over.

"I…god, Riley, of course I loved you. It's just…I was never in love with you the same way I'm-"he cut himself off, mentally cursing himself for breaking Maya's rule.

"There's somebody else," Riley said, making it a statement and not a question.

"There's nothing going on, Riley. I just….I'm in love with somebody else and I always have been. I thought that I could be with you and I'd get over it, but I'm never going to be able to stop loving her," He admitted.

"I can't believe I fell for your act," Riley snarled, words bitter and harsh.

She didn't really mean them. She just wanted to hurt Lucas. She knew how much it meant to him to be the nice guy at school. She wanted to hurt him as much as she could, and making him question his status as the nicest boy in the entire school would destroy him.

"Act? It was never an act-I'm a nice guy," Lucas insisted. "I can't believe you'd even question that. I just can't date you anymore. We can still be friends," He argued.

"Friends? You think I want to be friends with _you?__" _Riley snapped. "You broke my heart!" She yelled, glaring right into his eyes.

"God, this is ridiculous. I should have known you were going to take it this way. I can't believe you're acting like this. Maya-"

"Maya?" Riley snapped, her jaw dropping. "What about Maya? Are you trying to tell me that she _knew _about this?" Riley asked.

"No-of course she didn't," Lucas shook his head. "I mean, I may have asked her about the best way to handle it, but there's no way she could have warned you. I just told her when we were at Star-"

"You two were at _Starbucks? _I thought you were tutoring some kid in science?" Riley sneered.

"I was tutoring Maya," Lucas said simply.

"And you didn't think that was worth mentioning to me, ever? You've been lying to me all along, Lucas, and I'm not so sure I can trust you. I think you should go now," Riley sighed.

"Come on, Riley, can we just talk this all-"

But it was her turn to cut him off now, because she would fall for him all over again if she ever heard him say anything to her about their relationship. And that wouldn't change the fact that everything was over between them.

"Have fun with your other girl, Lucas. I'm not so sure I want to be around you at the moment. It's going to take some time before I'm going to be able to stomach you again," She said harshly, turning around and grabbing the doorknob, twisting it to open the door.

"Riley, please don't make this into some-"

"You know, I think that I always knew you were going to break my heart, but I guess I was just too foolish and naive to actually believe it," Riley whispered over her shoulder, finally showing the pain instead of trying to cover up her emotions and act like a stone cold bitch.

And with that, she pushed open the door to her apartment and made her way back inside, leaving him on his own. She slammed the door shut and stormed past her mother, who was innocently standing in the kitchen, trying to ask if Lucas would be coming inside. She made her way into her room and slammed the door shut behind her.

And that was when she saw Maya, sitting with her legs crossed pretzel style on Riley's window sill, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, head resting in her hands.

Riley didn't want to talk to her, either.

After all, she had known what Lucas was about to do and she hadn't done anything to prepare Riley for that pain. And the fact that she was just sitting in Riley's room meant that she had known it was about to happen. She had known Riley would need her. It was like rubbing it in Riley's face that she and Lucas were so close.

Farkle didn't seem to be aware that Lucas was going to break up with her for somebody else, after all. So why had he told Maya? What made her so special that she got to know what he was really feeling?

And why hadn't she done anything to try and talk him out of it? Why had she given him advice in the best way to handle it, instead of trying to remind him about his love for her? Wasn't she supposed to be Riley's best friend?

"Riles?" Maya asked tentatively.

"I don't want to talk to you," Riley said bluntly.

"But I-"

"I know that you knew," Riley said.

Maybe it meant something that Maya was there when she was. After all, it showed that she wanted to support Riley. But Riley still couldn't get over the fact that Maya had _known. _Lucas had told her, and he had lied about tutoring her. And he was leaving her for another girl-one that he truly did love.

And the only girl that Riley could possibly imagine that being, was Maya.

"Riley, I-"

"Stop it, Maya. Just leave, okay? I want to be alone, and I really don't want to see you right now, because it's just reminding me that he told you and that he was with you and that…just go, okay?" Riley pleaded, flashing her friend a sad smile.

Maya didn't say anything word as she opened the window back up and slipped back outside, climbing down the fire escape.

**(*&^%$# !$%^&*()*&^%$#%^&***

Maya jumped at the knock at her window, rolling off of her bed and walking towards the window, stopping before it at the sight outside.

She knew that she definitely shouldn't open the window. It was only going to lead to bad news if she opened the window and allowed the person outside to come in. But a part of her needed to talk to him. A part of her needed _somebody. _

She couldn't even remember the last fight she'd gotten into with Riley, least of all the last time her best friend had sent her away from her home. They'd never gotten into a fight that badly, and maybe Riley had flashed her that smile to let her know that she was only hurt-it didn't matter. She had still kicked her out and let Maya know that Riley held her to blame for her relationship's termination.

So, she opened the window and willed whatever trouble was going to come her way to come. She shouldn't have to walk on eggshells with her best friend, after all, if Riley wasn't going to give her the same courtesy. She couldn't remember the last time that Riley had done something to protect her. When her best friend had given something up in an effort to make Maya happy, even if it meant Riley might not get to be at her happiest.

"She kicked you out, huh?" Lucas asked, crawling in through her window, skipping over the niceties. Not that either of them every seemed to focus on niceties and casualties when it came to their relationship with one another. "Farkle called me and asked me if I really broke up with her, because she called him and wanted him to come over," He shrugged, answering her unspoken question.

"She's never kicked me out before," Maya whispered, dropping down onto her bed, bringing her legs up beneath her.

"Maya…you've been crying," Lucas froze, standing in front of her and taking in the sight before him.

"She's _never _kicked me out before," Maya repeated.

And with that, Lucas dropped down onto her bed besides her, pulling her close to him so that she was cuddling up to him, her head resting against his chest, arms locked firmly around her tiny waist. He leaned back against the body pillows she had lining up the back of her bed, up against her wall, to try and snuggle her closer to him. He buried his face in her hair, taking in the fresh, tropical scent.

"Lucas?" Maya asked, her voice muffled.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," he promised.

"Who's the other girl?" She asked, lifting her head up to look at him.

"You don't want to know that," Lucas shook his head.

"Please?"

"Maya…it doesn't matter, okay? I'll tell you soon-I promise. But I can't tell you now," He protested.

"Alright," Maya relented, cuddling back up against him. "She's a lucky girl, whoever she is-that's all," Maya told him, releasing a yawn at the end of her statement.

And Lucas couldn't help but smile at that.


	2. Let's Make A Pact

**Sugar We're Going Down Swinging  
>A Girl Meets World Fan Fiction Series<br>Chapter 2: Let's Make a Pact**

Maya Hart always felt safe when Lucas was around. There was just something about his presence that made her feel completely comfortable at all times. She couldn't explain it, but she knew that it was true.

Which was why he had been sneaking into her window since the seventh grade. Nobody knew about it, of course, because that would destroy Riley. And, as they got older, it would lead to a string of nasty rumors that neither of them would want to deal with. It was just better for them, all around, to keep it all a secret.

The comfort that she felt with him, of course, also explained why she woke up snuggled in his arms the morning after Riley and him had broken up and Riley had kicked Maya out of the house. The blonde knew that waking up in the arms of her best friend's ex-boyfriend so soon after they had broken up probably wouldn't help the issue of the fight she was having with the brunette, but she couldn't really bring herself to care too much about that.

"Maya," Lucas chuckled, his voice deep and husky from having just woken up. It was the sexiest sound that Maya had ever heard-not that she'd ever admit that. "Wake up-you've got to get ready for school. And I've got to hope that you at least have one of my tee-shirts lying around or else we're going to be late," He reminded.

"Don't worry," Maya sighed, kicking the covers off of her and crawling out of bed, hating the chill that came from leaving his warm embrace.

She made her way across the room and opened the bottom drawer of her dresser, pulling out a soft, pale blue tee-shirt shirt and a blue and green button down top. She turned back around and made her way towards Lucas, holding the clothes out towards him.

But he just sat on the edge of her bed, smirking up at her with a sly look on his face.

"What?" She asked with a nervous giggle. He was the only person who'd ever been able to make her nervous before.

She glanced down at herself and rolled her eyes. She knew _exactly _what he was looking at. She threw the shirts at him and tugged down the hem of her short, hot pink flannel pajama shorts, rolled at the waist and patterned with pale pink and white plaid. Then she straightened her baby pink racer back, ribbed tank top so that it completely covered her lacy, hot pink bra.

"Perv," She muttered, storming off towards her closet and grabbing her bathroom. "I'm going to go take a shower-hurry up and get ready," She ordered as she marched out of the room.

But, when she was away from him, she couldn't help but smile at the fact that he had been so involved in checking her out. She could feel her cheeks flushing from the way he had looked at her-no boy had ever looked at her that way before, and Lucas had certainly never looked at Riley that way before.

It was a look that reminded Maya of the way Cory had always looked at Topanga. It was how her mother looked at Shawn Hunter, and how her new step-father looked at her mother. A look full of true love and passion, both things that she'd never thought she'd experience in her life. And it sent shivers down her spine to know that she could actually receive such a look.

She passed by Shawn on her way to the bathroom, who was making breakfast for her and him. He shot her a knowing look-he'd started off hating Lucas, especially since he was always crawling in through Maya's window and often spent the night there-but he'd loosened up after meeting Lucas and realizing how polite and Cory-like Lucas happened to be. So, he'd gotten used to the idea, even if he was constantly checking in on the pair when he knew Lucas was there. And he _always _seemed to know when Lucas was there.

Maya pretended that Shawn's overprotective ways bothered her, the way Cory's over protectiveness bothered Riley, but it was all an act and she was sure even Shawn knew it. She appreciated the fact that she finally had somebody looking out for her-somebody who wanted to protect her and keep her safe. It made her feel as though she were a normal teenage girl, the same way all of Shawn's stupid, silly little rules did. It was why, no matter how annoyed Riley got with Cory for doing the same things, Maya could never truly get upset with Shawn for his rules.

She even had a hard time breaking the rules that he gave her, which had turned her into a slightly less rebellious kid. She got good grades, she rarely missed school, and she was involved in extracurricular activities. Shawn encouraged her and her art career.

But, just like Shawn had always been when he was in high school, Maya was always running out the door on dates. Every now and then, she'd lose herself when she forgot that somebody did care about her. And whenever she slipped up and started to fall back into that rebellious, hating the world, Shawn-Hunter mindset, Shawn was right there to pull her back onto the right track.

She loved Shawn like a father. He was the father she never had, after all. And it meant the world to her that Shawn approved of Lucas, because she couldn't imagine sending Lucas away and closing her window to him forever. But she knew that it would be close to impossible to disobey Shawn. Still, she needed to have Lucas in her life. She needed to be able to call him at a moment's notice, have him show up at her window, and spend the night assuring her that everything would be okay.

* * *

><p>Lucas wasn't sure when the change happened in his life that had caused him to go from Riley to Maya.<p>

He knew that he had been intrigued with Maya when he first met the girls, but there had been something about Riley that had grown on him after a while. The whole reason he had turned down Missy Bradford had been because he had wanted to be with Riley, after all.

But, sometime during seventh grade, while he was being teased relentlessly by Maya about being a cowboy, he had fallen for the charm of the blonde and hadn't been able to resist her anymore. There had been a point, of course, where he had liked Riley. In fact, he, much like Farkle, had actually fallen for _both _of the girls and spent quite a large amount of time torn between the two of them, finally settling down with Riley when he thought there was no hope for him and Maya.

When Riley's cousin, Troy Matthews, moved to New York City with his father, Eric Matthews, Maya had immediately fallen for the boy's charm and good looks. When he asked her if she wanted to go to Homecoming with her, she had jumped at the opportunity and never looked back.

So, Lucas had asked Riley to go with him. Over the course of the night, they had started a relationship. From there, it was history.

Maya and Troy had never actually started anything serious, only flirting from time to time. They'd go out on dates, and when Lucas and Riley would want to double, Troy and Maya would go with them. It was clear that Maya was crazy about the boy, though, and Lucas envied him that much.

And then Troy had started dating Missy Bradford, completely crushing Maya. Lucas hadn't seen Maya serious about a boy since then.

Lucas had wanted to punch Troy right in the jaw when Maya had called him up crying. But, by the time he'd arrived at Maya's house and the blonde had jumped into his arms immediately, snuggling right up to him-it was the first time he'd spent the night there-he had wanted to shake Troy's hand and thank him.

But, he was with Riley and there was no changing that. Until the previous night of course, when he had finally become a man and stood up for himself, ending the relationship that was keeping him from actually being happy.

He pulled the soft blue shirt on over his head, smiling at the fact that it smelled like Maya's perfume-clearly she had worn it, and even after washing it, her perfume had clung to it. It seemed like everything Maya owned always was hinted with a tropical, coconut-like scent. He thought that was the sexiest scent in the entire world.

He was sitting on her bed, shooting his mom a quick text to let her know that he wouldn't be needing to run home before school that morning, when Maya came back into the room in a short, fluffy, black bathrobe with ANGEL written across the back in hot pink, swirly font.

"If you're going to keep trying to check me out, I'm going to stop inviting you over," She stuck her tongue out at him, heading towards her dresser. She pulled out a handful of fabric and made her way towards her closet, closing the door behind her as she slipped inside.

She emerged three minutes later wearing a pair of distressed, faded denim shorts with a black crop top and one of Lucas's many plaid shirts over it-this one clearly from when he was in middle school, from the way it fit her, only a bit too loosely and much too long. She slipped on a pair of black flip flops and then shook out her blonde hair, spraying white foaming mousse into her hands and scrunching up the curls a bit.

Then she grabbed her backpack and looked towards him with a grin, her make-up already done.

"Ready to go? Shawn made us breakfast," She asked, already heading towards the kitchen.

Lucas paled at her words. Shawn might like him, but Lucas had never been good when it came to dealing with overprotective fathers. And Shawn was much scarier than Cory was. It didn't really matter to him what Shawn was saying-it always managed to strike the fear of god into him.

"Lucas! How are you?" Shawn asked, flashing him an easy going smile as he entered the kitchen.

Shawn slid a plate full of bacon, scrambled eggs and a bagel towards Lucas and then poured him a cup of orange juice-it had to say something for how often Lucas was there that Shawn so comfortably knew exactly how Lucas liked his food and what he preferred to drink with his breakfast.

Which made it even more depressing that Lucas was so afraid of Shawn. But, Lucas wanted to be a part of Maya's life-a _big _part of Maya's life. And Maya would never even consider letting him into her life if Shawn didn't approve. Her step-father meant far too much to her to even consider disappointing him.

So Lucas was going to have to do all that he could to make sure he stayed on Shawn's good side, without appearing to be a complete kiss ass. And that was a very fine line to continue to walk on.

"I'm good! Thanks for the breakfast," Lucas grinned at him.

"Anything for the boy who stopped my Maya from crying the way she was last night. What happened, sweetie?" He asked, turning his attention to the blonde.

"Riley and I just got into a fight," Maya shrugged, not looking up from her plate.

But both boys could tell from her voice that everything wasn't okay with her. She sounded sad and her voice was soft. She was hurting, and that just wasn't good for either one of them. But, only Lucas had all the true details, and he couldn't tell Shawn without making Maya angry. So, Shawn was going to have to try to get it out of Maya herself, because even he knew that Maya couldn't stand being angry at Lucas-and he really didn't want to make Maya mad at the boy.

"So you had her boyfriend come and stay the night with you?" Shawn asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Her ex-boyfriend, actually," Maya commented just as softly.

"She got mad at you last night, too?" Shawn asked, looking back at Lucas.

"Actually, I broke up with Riley…."Lucas admitted.

"You did what?" Shawn asked, eyes growing wide. "Oh, Cory's going to be coming after you….although, you could probably take Cory….there's no probably about it, really. But, why'd you do that? I thought you two were trying for the next Cory and Topanga?" Shawn asked, furrowing his eyebrows together.

"It wasn't fair to be with Riley when I was in love with somebody else, even if that girl didn't want to be with me," Lucas shrugged, his eyes darting towards Maya, who was finishing up her breakfast.

For a girl as tiny as she was, she could eat as much as she wished and she could practically inhale it. She could rival even Lucas when it came to how much they ate. Which was just another thing he found so attractive about her. But, then again, he was pretty sure she found everything that she did attractive.

"Well, at least you did the right thing," Shawn said, glancing between the both of them and giving Lucas a pat on the back.

It was clear from the look that he gave Lucas that he understood what he hadn't said. Lucas had broken up with Riley because he loved Maya, and even though that could have completely ruined his chances of ever being with her, he had to do something to get out of that relationship that made Maya a forbidden fruit, causing her to seem even more tempting to him.

There was something about the look that made it clear to Lucas that Shawn had _always _known that Lucas would rather be with Maya, and that the older man who been waiting for Lucas to finally end things with the wrong girl for a chance with the right girl, even if that chance seemed as though it would never coming.

Shawn understood, and, for the first time, Lucas could see that he actually had Shawn's full respect and approval.

It gave him a newfound sense of confidence, and he couldn't have been happier. Things already seemed to be looking up for him. Maybe he _could _be with Maya, and maybe Riley _would _forgive him, and maybe-just maybe-everything would end up okay in the end.

"Lucas, you ready to go? I'd rather not be late today," Maya teased, jumping to her feet and picking her backpack back up, heading towards the door.

And like always, Lucas followed.

* * *

><p>Riley seethed as she saw Maya come running into the school, Lucas chasing after her. She clenched the edge of her locker door tightly, knuckles turning white from the tension as she heard Maya's shriek of giggles as she tried to get away from a smiling, beaming Lucas.<p>

Lucas should _not _be happy. He should be miserable, because he had realized what a mistake he'd made by breaking up with Riley. He was supposed to be chasing after _her, _pleading with her to take him back. He was _not _supposed to be chasing after Maya, Riley's very own best friend, and acting as though he didn't have a care in the world.

It just wasn't _fair! _

They'd been together for years. How could he end things and act as though he was perfectly fine? _She _couldn't even dream of smiling, yet alone laughing. Farkle had tried countless times the night before.

Of course, to be fair, Riley had sent Maya away, which must have made her best friend upset. If Lucas was also upset, it made sense that they would have wound up calling one another. And Maya had always been an expert at cheering people up. She'd even been able to get Farkle to cheer up after Billy Ross had said those horrible things to him all those years ago.

Maya had a way with people, something Riley had always been envious of. She understood them on a personal level and she knew what needed to be said in order to restore them to their full potential. Riley had always been jealous of those talents, actually-among many other things that Maya was good at. And maybe it was wrong to be so jealous of her very best friend, but she had never really been able to forget the fact that _Maya _was the cool one. _Maya _was the first one boys noticed.

Only one boy had ever picked her over Maya, and that had been Lucas. Riley wasn't stupid, after all. She knew that Lucas had dealt with the same dilemma Farkle had dealt with, trying to choose between Maya and Riley despite their obvious differences.

But, Farkle had constantly gone back and forth between the girls, never really settling on which one he liked the best. Lucas had been the one to pick Riley-to make a decision-and to do whatever he could do to bring up Riley's self esteem and make her feel as though she were worth something more.

Lucas had made her feel special, and she hated that she no longer got to feel that way. She hated it even more that her best friend was apparently getting all of his attention now. And they hadn't even been broken up for a full twenty four hours yet.

"Don't let it get to you," Farkle hissed, suddenly appearing behind Riley.

"Don't _do _that!" Riley shrieked, jumping from the fear he had brought to her. She really hated it when he did stuff like that.

She was far too sensitive to deal with that on a daily basis, yet alone when she was always emotionally unstable. Yet Farkle thought it was absolutely hilarious whenever he scared Riley. When he tried to do the same thing to Maya, she just turned around and hit him or shoved him into the nearest object.

So, maybe Riley didn't hate that he did it _that _much, because it was something special that Farkle did for her. And while she didn't have any sort of romantic feelings for the boy, she couldn't say that she didn't like the idea that some people still went out of their way for Riley, instead of just doing so for Maya.

It wasn't good to be jealous of her best friend. She knew that it was wrong, but she really couldn't do anything about it.

While Riley knew that Maya was envious of her height-Riley stood at five foot eleven, and Maya was just past the five foot mark, at five foot one. Maya always hated the way Riley was so skinny, but Riley hated the fact that she lacked those curves Maya had that always managed to turn a boy's head.

Riley didn't just envy her appearance, though. She hated her confidence. Her ability to make anybody's day better. The way nothing seemed to get to her. Her artistic ability. And Riley really hated the fact that Maya was a cheerleader, giving her yet another talent.

Of course, Maya had only tried out for the team because Riley had pleaded with her for weeks. And Riley _had _made the team, but Maya had been the _only _freshman to make the varsity team, and while Maya swore up and down that it was just because of her size, Riley had never really gotten over it.

She'd stopped cheering after that season, but Maya had fall in love with the sport, shocking most of the school. While she didn't seem to have any sort of school spirit off the field, when she had her uniform on she was more involved in the games than anybody else was. She knew all of the boys on the team and their numbers. She could recall their plays at the drop of a hat and she knew their positions. She prided herself in knowing their stats at all times.

And Riley had never seen Maya any happier than she had been when she'd told her mom she was on the team and the way her mother had immediately raced towards her daughter and wrapped her in a tight hug. At the first game, Maya had been shocked when her mother was sitting in the stands. At the second game, she'd cried. When her mother started coming to every single game, requesting every Friday off from work and bringing in the basketball schedule so she never worked on a game day, Maya had realized that she'd finally gotten her mother to notice her and be proud of her.

Which was why Maya continued to be a part of the team, despite the long practices before Homecoming or competition where all she wanted to do was quit and sleep for weeks at a time. Despite the drama from other girls about their spot in a formation or their position in a stunt. Through all of the bruises and times she fell from a stunt and hit the mat, Maya never once went through with her complaints and threats to quit.

Riley knew that. She understood. But she still couldn't get over the fact that it was just yet another way that Maya was better than her.

"I can't help it-she's my best friend and he's my ex-boyfriend. They shouldn't be happy and laughing, especially not _together, _so soon after we broke up," Riley sighed, shaking her head. "Do you think there's something going on there?" She asked, slamming her locker shut.

"I don't think so," Farkle shook his head, floppy, chestnut brown hair falling into his golden brown eyes. "We always knew that they had a special bond. I think that she was just hurt you didn't want her around last night and I think it hurt him to end things, too. They probably were just leaning on one another, because you called me to come help you," He pointed out.

Riley knew that that was probably Farkle's sweet, naive innocence-his desire to always look for the good in people-but she believed him. He had a point, after all. And it wasn't as though Maya hadn't sent her a text before she fell asleep, reminding her that she loved her, always would, and reassuring Riley that she was far too good for Lucas-even if both girls knew that that statement wasn't really true, because they both thought too highly of the boy.

"You should just talk to her," Farkle sighed, following Riley's hurt, tear-filled gaze towards Maya and Lucas, who were standing at Maya's locker.

Lucas was leaning against the one besides the blonde's as the girl put her books away from the night before and started to gather what she'd need before her next locker stop.

"Yeah…I know," Riley sighed. "Do you think I should do it now?"

"He's going to be over there, Riles," Farkle pointed out.

'I know….but I need to talk to him, too. This all just needs to end, because I don't like the tension. I want things to go back to how they were, when we were all friends and happy and it was all easy," Riley explained.

"Then go and talk to them," Farkle agreed. "Because I don't want to be stuck in the middle of this," He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Don't be a jerk-come with me?" She asked.

"They're my friends, too, Riles-of course I'm going to come with you," He flashed her a smile, swinging his arm over her shoulder and leading her towards their other friends.

* * *

><p>"Lucas? Do you think we could talk?"<p>

Lucas glanced up from his gaze that had been locked on Maya, turning towards Riley who was standing in front of him with that same hurt look from the night before, Farkle's arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders.

"Riley?" Maya perked up, slamming her locker shut and whirling around, dropping her bag to the ground and lunging towards her best friend, embracing the thin girl before her.

"Hey, Maya," Riley said softly, wrapping her arms around her best friend. "I'm sorry I sent you away. I shouldn't have done that-we both know that I needed you there," Riley said, a bit of her old self coming back to her voice.

"It's okay," Maya assured her, taking a step back. "You want Farkle and me to go so you can talk to Lucas?"

Lucas prayed that Riley would say no, because he didn't want Maya to walk away. Especially not with Farkle. It wasn't that he was jealous of Farkle or that he thought Maya would ever pick Farkle over him. It was just that he couldn't stand the way Farkle looked at her, the way he flirted with her, or the lines he tried to feed her. He might love the little guy and he would do anything to protect him-they were best friends, after all-but he couldn't stand any guy who flirted with Maya. Because he wanted her to be his.

It was pointless and useless jealousy that he shouldn't be feeling, but he was pretty sure he'd always be stuck feeling that way.

"No-you can stay. I want you to stay," Riley answered.

"Riley, I'm really sorry about what happened last night. I should have handled it better but-"

"Lucas, it's okay," Riley cut him off, holding a hand up. "I promise. It's going to hurt, and it's going to be tough to be around you for a little while, but it's okay. You did what you had to do, and I appreciate the fact that you were at least honest with me instead of trying to lie and cover it up," Riley flashed him a small smile.

"I think we should all make a promise," Maya spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Farkle asked.

"We're best friends and we have been for years. But this breakup could have ruined things between us, right?" Maya asked.

"Definitely," Riley answered quickly.

"So, I was thinking about it last night, and I've come up with the only possible solution. We all have to promise not to date one another. Riley and I won't date Farkle and Farkle won't date either of us. And there's no getting back together for you two," She said, giggling at the end and shooting them a mock glare.

Lucas didn't fail to notice that she hadn't even considered the idea that they might date one another. He wasn't sure if he should be heartbroken that she didn't consider that to be a possible couple, or if he should look on the bright side and hope that she meant there was no way she was promising not to date him.

"I like that idea," Farkle nodded.

"It's definitely for the best," Riley agreed.

And then it was up to Lucas, who knew he had no choice but to agree. If he didn't, he would have to admit to his feelings about Maya and that would have the opposite effect of what she'd been trying to have happen.

So, he went against his better judgement and nodded right along with him.

"No more dating within the group," Lucas nodded.

"Group hug?" Riley asked tentatively, going against her usual quirkiness of announcing that she wanted them all to hug.

But, Maya did her best to keep their group on tract with their typical agreements and habits.

"You're such an embarrassment-but I love you," Maya shook her head, reaching out and pulling her best friend close, and tugging on Lucas's arm to bring him into the hug as well.

Somebody reached out to pull Farkle in, and just like that, things were back to normal-if not slightly awkward between Lucas and Riley, with Lucas wondering how long this pact could go on and what he could do to stop it from being valid.

Still, if that was what was going to make Maya happy, he was going to do whatever it took to keep her happy. And it was clear that she needed to have Riley in her life, just as much as she needed to keep Lucas around. So, a part of him felt good that he was so important to her. At least he didn't have to worry about if she was done with him now that Riley was done with him.

"Wait a second-does this mean I can't try to charm you girls anymore? Because you know I'm always going to love you, two," Farkle asked, breaking away from the hug and glancing between both girls worriedly.

"Farkle, you can continue to try and win us over, because we all know that's never going to happen," Riley rolled her eyes, giving him a quick side hug.

"Yeah, the rule only applies to if we were actually going to date one of you two or if one of you two were going to date one of us. We're done dating within the group, and there is _no _way we're ever going to break away from that promise. It just causes way too much stress," Maya said, crossing her arms firmly over her chest.

Lucas paled, knowing that this was going to be different from all of their other pacts. There would be no end to it, and there would be no loophole to get out of it. None of them were going to start to go against Maya's idea, because this one was serious.

It wasn't like the goofy one about wearing matching outfits everyday (seventh grade had had some crazy ideas). It was serious, and it meant there was no chance for Maya and Lucas anymore.


	3. Riley's Epiphany

**Sugar We're Going Down Swinging  
>A Girl Meets World Fan Fiction Series<br>Chapter 3: Riley's Epiphany **

Maya skipped out of her chemistry class as soon as she'd finished her test and leaned against the wall next to the door, waiting for Lucas to finish up. As soon as he walked out, about five minutes after her, she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. His arms wound themselves around her tiny waist and he picked up.

"What's the excitement all about?" He asked with a chuckle.

"I understood _everything!__" _She exclaimed, face flushing from excitement.

"Maya, that's amazing!" He spun her around, setting her back down on the ground, but keeping his arms around her waist. "See? I told you, you're not even going to need me soon," He teased.

"I'm _always _going to need you, Lucas," She rolled her eyes. "Do you think we could go out to dinner tonight?" She asked.

"You want me to start helping you on the next chapter already?" He asked, eyes wide.

"_No,__" _she scoffed. "What kind of nerd do you take me for?" She rolled her eyes as she unwound herself from his hold and started skipping down the hallway, towards the cafeteria, hooking her arm through his.

"Then why do you want to go out?" He asked her, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"_Because,__" _she said slowly. "I want to _celebrate _my brilliance and thank you for helping me," She replied as though it were obvious.

"You don't have to do that," He insisted.

"Obviously," She shrugged. "I _want _to, Lucas. Now stop complaining and do as I say. I get out of practice at five thirty, so pick me up then-I know you get out of football at five today because there's a game tomorrow-and we can swing by my place so I can change really fast, and then we can head out," She said excitedly.

"Why do you always just assume I'm so willing to give you a ride?" He asked her.

"Because you _love _me," She teased, making kiss-y faces up at him and exaggerating kissing sounds.

"Shut up," He said, punching her gently in the arm.

Maya stopped mid-stride and pulled her arm away from him, a devious smirk on her face. She saw the fear start to spread across his face and then she threw back her head, opened her mouth, and started to yell.

"LUCAS FRIAR LOVES ME, EVERYBODY!"

"Shut up!" Lucas hissed, slapping a hand over her mouth and holding her against him, her back to his front. Which was actually one of his worst ideas, because he was pretty sure if she stayed that close to him, in that position, for any longer, she would start to realize how he _actually _felt about her.

She stuck her tongue out, licking his hand and basking in his disgusted cry of outrage as he pulled his hand away and took a step back.

"What was _that _for?" He shrieked.

"For covering up my mouth like a jerk," She shrugged, her words completely casual and cool.

* * *

><p>Riley was glad that things were normal again. Or, close to normal at least. But she still couldn't help but think about the whole Lucas and Maya situation. There was something going on there, whether they knew it or not.<p>

"So, tomorrow we're all going to wear somebody's jersey, right? Because It's supposed to be cold and I don't feel like wearing my uniform. And those creepy guys in the subway always check me out when I'm wearing my skirt," Kelly Anderson complained to Mackenzie Evans as they walked by Riley.

Kelly and Mackenzie were the captains of the team cheerleading team and both seniors. They were best friends, and they adored Maya. They constantly invited her to upperclassman parties and called her to go shopping with them or out to dinner or to the movies. They tried to fix her up with their guy friends, and they were training her to be the captain for her own senior year.

Because of the fact that they loved Maya so both, they had taken to being nice to Riley whenever they saw her, meaning a casual wave or a quick 'hello' in the hallways. Riley appreciated the gesture, but she saw the fake-niceness as a slap in the face at times; another reminder that Maya was the star of the show.

"Hey, Riley!" Mackenzie, who had always been the friendlier of the two, called out as she passed.

Kelly just continued on with her rant, pausing only to flash Riley a quick smile and shoot her a wave.

"So, jerseys, right? Because I already have one for everybody on the team, except for Maya, because she's being so god damn stubborn about this whole process," Kelly whined.

"I thought she was wearing Lucas's?" Mackenzie frowned.

"Lucas Friar?" Kelly frowned.

"Okay, hold up-let's figure this all out now," Mackenzie sighed, turning around and walking towards Riley, who was eagerly hanging onto every word the older girls were saying.

"Hey, Mackenzie!" Riley said cheerfully, trying to hide her panic on the inside.

She didn't _want _Maya to wear Lucas's jersey. She wished that Maya would just agree to wear one of the seniors jerseys like she had every other time the cheerleaders had decided to do that tradition.

"Are you and Lucas still dating?" She asked.

"Um, no-we decided it was better to just be friends," Riley answered softly.

"Oh…I'm sorry," Mackenzie pouted. "But, anyways, do you think he'd be cool with letting Maya wear his jersey tomorrow? You guys are all still friends, right?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah! Best of friends! I'm sure Lucas would agree to it," Riley said, flashing a double thumbs up at the girls.

"Perfect!" Mackenzie chirped.

"You're a doll," Kelly said, blowing a kiss as she hooked arms with her friend and dragged her down the hallway.

Leaving Riley to feel as though she had just sold her soul to the devil. As if she had stabbed herself right in the height.

* * *

><p>"Lucas!" Maya giggled, racing out of practice and towards him, loving how he always waited to pick her up <em>outside <em>of his car.

She jumped right onto his back, wrapping her long, bare legs around his torso. Her hair was twisted up into a sky high ponytail, tugging at her roots and bouncing with every movement she made. She wore tight, spandex black shorts and a loose, iFLY white tee shirt with black font, that only seemed to fit her chest area. Her white cheer sneakers still covered her feet, despite the rule that she wasn't supposed to wear them outside of the gym. She'd tossed her cheerleading back to the ground as soon as she'd jumped onto Lucas.

"What's up?" He laughed, reaching behind him and swinging her around, holding her bridal style. "I have a present for you in the car," He explained, opening her car door and dropping her onto the seat, tossing her back in behind her.

Before she could start to beg about her present, he slammed the door shut and walked around to the driver's side, crawling into his seat. He reached into the back and pulled out a red and white jersey, handing her the away jersey he wouldn't need for their home game the following night. She accepted the material with an odd look on her face, furrowing her pale eyebrows together in confusion.

"Riley mentioned you might be needing this for tomorrow," He explained sheepishly.

"I have to wear _yours? _Maya groaned, pretending to be aggravated with the concept.

Of course, she really loved that Lucas had immediately thought to offer his jersey up to her. She also loved that her best friend wasn't holding any sort of resentment towards Maya because of her closeness with Lucas.

"Well, if you're going to be like that," He teased right back, moving to take it from her.

"I want it!" She shrieked, pulling it closer to her chest. "Don't be such an Indian Giver," She stuck her tongue out.

"You're the one who always has to look a gift horse in the mouth," Lucas shrugged, starting up his car.

"What's up with the horse references, cowboy?" Maya teased, poking his arm as he shifted gears.

"I'm Ranger Rick and I'll be here for the rest of your life," He assured her.

"What makes you think I want to put up with you for that long?" She asked him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You like the idea of free food," He shrugged.

"And rides-don't forget the rides," Maya giggled.

He shook his head, refusing to give her comment a response. Maya shrugged, turning on the radio and grabbing his phone. She plugged it into the aux cord and immediately searched for the playlist she'd made of all the songs she'd downloaded onto his phone throughout the years. She hit play and smirked at his reaction to the current,Top 40 song that began to fill the car around them.

"_Every time that you get undressed, I hear symphonies in my head!__" _Maya sang along loudly to the radio, turning the volume up louder.

Lucas only acted annoyed with her, of course. He actually found her to be quite adorable, with the way she put her feet up on the dashboard and tapped out the beat on her thighs. He loved it when she sang along to whatever song was playing, and he often had to scold himself to focus on the road instead of her dancing in her seat when she really was enjoying the song.

Besides, he knew that she was doing it to spark a reaction out of him. Whenever she started by playing one of the current, over played songs that Lucas really couldn't stand before she played the type of song that made up the majority of the playlist, he knew that she wanted to get him to comment on her music choices.

In all honesty, the two had almost the same musical preferences. They both loved country music-although Maya only liked it after years of listening to Lucas go on and on about how great it was and forcing it down her throat. Still, Maya loved _all _types of music and definitely couldn't pick out a favorite genre.

He listened to her play song after song, singing along to each one, and finally pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building. He turned the car off and got out of the car, racing over to her side to open the door for her. It was something he always did, no matter how many times she teased him about it. Then he took her bag and followed her towards her apartment, carrying it for her-something else she teased him relentlessly about doing.

When they got to her apartment, he dropped down on the couch, allowing her to go and get ready in private. She returned twenty minutes later wearing a short denim mini skirt that Lucas couldn't help but stare at, with a tight cropped top that made her chest look even fuller than usual. She had on heels, her favorite style shoe so that she could appear to have some sort of height to her, and her hair was loose and wild around her face. She looked amazing-as always-but she had clearly put more effort into her appearance than she normally did when the two of them were hanging out.

And Lucas couldn't help but notice that. It made him wonder if maybe she was already breaking the pact. If she had plans for them that were something more than merely grabbing dinner as friends to celebrate her good grade. There was a part of him that wondered if maybe Maya was going to propose some sort of relationship between the two of them, but wanted to keep it from Riley-at least until she had moved on. Maybe, just maybe, she had asked him to go out on a date.

* * *

><p>Lucas was laughing at Maya's attempts to infuriate him with her cowboy jokes when they entered the restaurant. And then…he wasn't laughing anymore.<p>

Instead, he was standing in front of the table Maya had led him to, eyes wide and jaw dropped. Because, sitting on one side of the booth were none other than Riley and Farkle. Which took away any illusions that he had had about his evening with Maya being a date.

"What's your problem?" Maya asked, sliding into the booth.

"Nothing," Lucas shook his head, sliding in besides her. "I just didn't know Riley and Farkle were going to be here," He shrugged.

"Do you not _want _us to be here?" Riley asked.

"Of course I want you guys here," Lucas said quickly.

And that was enough to satisfy Riley, who leaned back in the booth and smiled, crossing her arms over her chest. She continued to scan her menu, a content little smile on her face as she sipped at her milkshake.

* * *

><p>Maya walked into school the following morning in her favorite pair of skinny jeans and Lucas's jersey, carefully folded, twisted, tied up, and tucked in so that it would look somewhat acceptable on her tiny frame.<p>

As always, Lucas had given her a ride to school, so he was besides her in jeans almost as faded as Maya's own were, and his own jersey with the reverse coloring. Both had on red Converse sneakers, which had earned a barking laugh from Maya as soon as she saw him. She had immediately accused him of copying her outfit and told him he needed to go home and change.

Lucas had responded by saying it looked better on him and messing up her hair, before heading towards the school. Secretly, though, he couldn't stop thinking about how sexy she looked in his jersey. He wasn't even worried about what Riley's reaction would be to seeing them wearing almost identical outfits.

Then again, it had been Riley's idea for Lucas to allow Maya to wear his jersey in the first place. So, maybe she wouldn't be that mad. Maybe she was already starting to move on from Lucas?

He wasn't sure, but a part of him was convinced that Riley was interested in Farkle. He couldn't tell for sure, if it was a crush or just her rebounding after the break-up, but she seemed to be leaning on him for support. And the night before, she had _literally _being leaning on, resting her head on his shoulder and using him as a prop when she was leaving.

And she was always with him, no matter what was going on. They were together between classes. They were together after school. Farkle had been bringing her _to _school.

Of course, Lucas could just be hoping that Riley had feelings for Farkle so that somebody other than himself would be breaking the pact. If Riley wanted to date Farkle, Maya wasn't going to stand in her way. And if Riley and Farkle were dating, it would mean more alone time for Lucas and Maya. It would push them together, and it would leave Maya without any excuse to not date Lucas.

Unless, of course, she just wasn't romantically interested in him, which could be a possibility. He didn't like the think that way, but for as many times as she acted as if they could be a thing and live happily ever after, she would hint that they would never be anything more than friends. Lucas hated those times more than he had ever hated anything else in his life.

Still, Lucas knew Maya better than anybody else. He knew that Maya would fall for a boy who treated her right. A boy who said the right things and was hoenstly, genuinely sweet to her. So, he was going to be exactly the type of guy she wanted to be with. He would use all of the charm he had.

"So, I have a good feeling about tonight's game," Lucas told her as they arrived at her locker.

"Oh really?" Maya asked, cocking an eyebrow as she twisted the dial on her lock. "And _why, _may I ask, are you so confident about the game against the school that's first in the division? And don't say it's because you're from Texas, because that doesn't make you a good football player," She teased, pulling her locker open.

"I _wasn__'__t,__" _Lucas scoffed. "I was _going _to say that I had a good feeling about it because I have a good luck charm tonight," He whispered confidentially.

"A good luck charm?" Maya rolled her eyes. "And what would that be?"

"You," He shrugged, turning around and walking away.

Because a little bit of mystery had never hurt a guy before when it came to Maya. When she was confused, she paid more attention. And a mysterious boy seemed dark-almost as intriguing as a bad boy. Maya was immediately drawn into anything that screamed danger.

She knew Lucas too well to ever think of him as dangerous, though. So, he would have to settle for pulling out the mysterious card. And even though she could read him like a book, that actually made it easy for him to become a mystery to her. If he said things that were vague, it wasn't like him. Which made her wonder what was going on with him. It made him complicated. It made him hard to understand.

And Lucas really needed all the help that he could get when it came to Maya. There was no way he was going to be able to win her over and convince her to break her precious little pact if he continued to act like sweet, country boy Lucas Friar.

He needed to stop acting the way he had when he was with Riley, because that wasn't the type of guy Maya wanted for herself. She wanted a boy like Shawn Hunter, not like Cory Matthews. A boy who was complicated-who teased her and gave her a hard time. A boy she could laugh with and tease relentlessly, without him getting all hot and bothered about it.

If that was what Maya wanted, then that was what Lucas was going to give her.

* * *

><p>"Lucas called me his good luck charm," Maya said, dropping down besides Farkle in the library during their study hall that day.<p>

"He likes you," Farkle shrugged.

"Don't say that!" Maya hissed, immediately scanning the library to make sure Riley wasn't around to hear such a thing.

"It's true," Farkle insisted. "I mean, why else do you think he broke up with Riley?" Farkle asked.

"That's not true, Farkle. He just-wait, how do you know all of this?" Maya asked.

A part of her hated what Farkle was saying and prayed that it wasn't true. It would be too horrible and lead to a dramatic scene with Riley. It could end her friendship with her. Besides, it could ruin her friendship with Lucas as well. And poor Farkle would be stuck in the middle of all of that drama. Lucas liking her would just lead to chaos and ruin everybody's lives.

But, another part of her-a very large part of her-hoped and prayed that Farkle was telling the truth. She _wanted _Lucas to like her, because she had always clung onto that shred of hope that he would pick her. That he would _save _her-from herself, from her mother, from….everything. There was just such a large piece of her that would always believe in Lucas and everything that a relationship with him could do for her. She wasn't sure she would ever be able to get over it.

"I can see the way he looks at you. He never looked at Riley that way," Farkle shrugged. "And it's not just because you're the hottest girl in school. There's something about you that's always intrigued him. I'm pretty sure he's in love with you," Farkle explained.

"Then why did he ask Riley out?" Maya blurted out, hating the fact that she sounded bitter.

"You were crazy about Troy, remember? He thought he was never going to get a chance with you, and Riley was there, and he liked Riley, too. He just didn't feel the same way about her as he felt about you," Farkle shrugged.

Maya lowered her head, remembering the senseless crush she'd had on Riley's cousin back when she was a freshman. There had just been something about Troy Matthews that had made him stand out.

He was new. He was exotic. He was sweet. He was talented. He was athletic. He was cute. He was nice. He was smart. He was funny. And he was a ticket into the Matthews family, something Maya had always longed to be a true part of.

But he had played her and he had used her. He'd lied to her and made her feel like crap. He'd left her crying, and Lucas had been there to pick up the pieces. And it was probably at that moment, when Lucas was pacing her bedroom floor, fists clenched tightly as he ranted and raved about what an idiot Troy was and threatened to kick his ass, that Maya realized that nobody could ever compete with Lucas in her life.

It had been too late by that point though, because he and Riley and officially been dating for about two weeks and Maya was supposed to be the supportive best friend. So, she had put on a smile and commented on how cute they were together.

Still, she had never pulled a "Shawn" and stated that they were perfect for each other-that they should someday get married. Instead, she had just gotten upset with anybody who tried to steal Lucas away from Riley. And she had done her best to keep Lucas as close to her as possible, enjoying every second that they spent growing closer and closer as friends.

She tried as hard as she could to put him in the friendzone. She wanted to think of him as a brother so badly. She did everything that she could to lose any lingering feelings of romance she had for the boy, but she just couldn't do it.

Which was why she and felt her heart lift up at the fact that he wanted to break up with Riley because he was interested in another girl. From that moment, she had hoped and prayed that the other girl would be her. That Lucas had picked Maya Hart-the girl from a broken home with a tragic past, who was so rough around the edges-over Riley Matthews, the girl next door with a heart of gold.

Then Riley had gotten pissed at Maya for simply knowing about Lucas's thoughts. That was when Maya had realized that she and Lucas could never be together, because Riley would throw away their friendship forever. So, Maya had developed the stupid pact in order to try and finally end her feelings for Lucas. If she was trying to follow through with a pact made with her friends, she would have the willpower not to make a move on Lucas.

"Maya, listen-even Riley knows it. She just doesn't want to admit it. And we all know that you feel the same way about him. Give it a little time and Riley's going to be over him. And then she's going to realize how perfect you and Lucas are for one another and be pushing for you two to get together," Farkle sighed.

"I can't lose her, Farkle," Maya shook her head.

"You can have him and still have her," Farkle promised.

"I don't think so," Maya insisted. "I don't think she'd ever be able to treat me the same way if Lucas and I were ever a thing," Maya whispered.

"Why don't you talk to her?" Farkle asked.

"Farkle, you're a smart guy and all, but I just don't know if you're right about this one. At least, not the Riley part of it," Maya shook her head, a sad smile on her face.

She pushed her chair back and stood up, reading to leave.

"She kissed me last night," Farkle blurted out.

"What?"

"Riley-when I dropped her off after dinner? She thanked me for being there for her through all of this, and then she kissed me," Farkle explained.

Maya turned around, dropping back down into her vacated chair, looking at him in amazement. But she didn't say anything, too shocked to think of anything intelligent to say to him.

"She kissed me, and then she apologized and ran inside. The thing is….all this time I thought that I was going to pick you over her…and then she kissed me and I realized that it's her, and it's always been her," Farkle sighed, shaking his head. "And all I was to her was a rebound," he muttered.

"Farkle, don't think that-"

"But, the thing is, if she could kiss me so soon after her breakup with Lucas-no matter what the reason was-she's clearly ready to move on. She's over it already. Which just proves that she knew it was never going to last. Riley's always been prepared for this outcome, Maya, because she always knew that, for Lucas, it was always going to be you," Farkle said.

And that time, he was the one to stand up and walk away, leaving a stunned little blonde cheerleader to sit alone at the table, trying to make sense of all of the emotions running through her head. But, of course, there were far too many ideas going through her head for her to make sense of anything at the moment.

* * *

><p>Riley had kissed Farkle the night before.<p>

But it hadn't been because he was her rebound.

Not even a little bit.

She had kissed him because she had actually had feelings for him. She had kissed him because he made her forget about Lucas and he made her feel special, in a way that Lucas never had before. Everything that she'd ever felt with Lucas was felt with Farkle, but a thousand times more powerful.

It was far too soon to be thinking about dating somebody else, though. It didn't even make sense that she would be able to think about dating anybody else, with the way she had felt about Lucas.

She'd been giving it a lot of thought, though, and she'd come up with an explanation for everything. She'd liked Lucas for so long before they'd started dating, that she just felt comfortable with the concept of being interested in him. Throughout their relationship, it had always felt more like they were supposed to be together, than that they _wanted _to be together.

Nothing had been real, she was sure of that now. As much as she hated to admit it, it was true. Lucas had felt as though he was _supposed _to date her, because everybody had always assumed they were a couple. And Riley had felt as though she'd _had _to say yes to him, because she had liked him from such a young age.

The thing was, Riley didn't just have to deal with her feelings for Farkle, though. She had to do something about the happiness of her best friend.

Because Maya really _did _have feelings for Lucas. Riley's best friend adored him and thought the world of him. And Lucas worshiped the ground that Maya walked on. They made each other better people. They were perfect for one another and they deserved to be together. They made each other happy and they always had.

Lucas would have no problem going for it with Maya, either, if it weren't for that fact that he knew what would stop Maya from accepting her feelings for him.

Riley stood in their way of being truly happy, and she had to figure out some way to get them together and let them know they had her blessing. Coming straight out and saying it wouldn't work. That never worked with Maya. She would just refuse to admit the feelings she and for Lucas and insist that she didn't want Riley's ex-boyfriend.

She would never believe Riley anyways. She'd be convinced that Riley was just trying to make her happy and giving up her own happiness to do so. Which would result in Maya doing the same thing to herself.

Besides, if Maya and Lucas were together, it meant she could freely express her feelings for Farkle and take a chance with him. She wasn't going to be the one to break Maya's silly little pact, though, when Maya had only made the pact for her sake.

"Lucas!" Riley chirped, skipping over towards him. "We need to talk," She said brightly.

"You're in a pretty good mood," Lucas observed.

"I am! Actually, you breaking up with me was probably the best thing you could have done. That relationship was a joke. Neither of us really felt what we said we did. I realize that now. Besides, I'm sort of interested in-"

"Farkle," He cut her off, a knowing smile on his face.

"Am I that obvious?" She paled.

"No-I just know you pretty well," He grinned, reaching out to pull her into a hug. "Now, is that all you had to tell me?" He asked.

"No! I want to get you and Maya together," Riley exclaimed brightly.

"What?" Lucas's jaw dropped as he studied her. "Don't joke about that, Riley," He became serious, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I'm not, I promise. I want her to be happy, and you make her the happiest I've ever seen her. So, I'm going to do everything I can to get you two together," Riley assured him. "And I'm sure I can get Farkle to help, too. We really just have to get Maya to see that I'm on board for it, but you know how stubborn she is," Riley explained.

"If you just tell her, she'll never believe you," Lucas smiled, shaking his head as though he were proud of Maya's stubbornness. "Alright, let's get to work-we better go find the evil little genius," He said, swinging an arm around Riley's shoulders as they took off to find Farkle.


	4. Can't Blame a Girl For Trying

**Sugar We're Going Down Swinging  
>A Girl Meets World Fan Fiction Series<br>Chapter 4: Can't Blame a Girl For Trying **

_**A/N: I can't believe the amazing feedback this story has gotten! I honestly just thought it would be fun to write but the reviews are incredible. Anyways, a certain scene in this story is based off of a conversation I had with one of my friends at a party one time, and is also a little bit of a spin-off on a one-shot I read about Lucaya where they played a similar game with the same rules. **_

"LUCAS! GO! FASTER, LUCAS! COME ON!" Maya screamed, fighting to get enough air to her lungs in her breathless state to keep her volume up.

She was standing on the sidelines, jumping up and down with her pleated, red and white ultra-short cheerleading skirt bouncing with each movement, revealing her silver and red, zebra print spandex boy shorts all the girls wore under their uniforms. Her blonde curls were pulled into the highest ponytail possible and then teased, with a giant poof on the top of her head, hiding most of her bow.

There were about thirty seconds left to the game and the score was down by one touchdown. Lucas was almost to the end-zone and if he just got pass that last member of the opposing team, he'd be in the clear for a touchdown.

And then they'd have won them game. They'd continue to be undefeated. They would be first in the division and have a chance at sectionals, something their school hadn't come close to in years.

And it was all riding on Lucas Friar.

"LUCAS, LET'S GO!" Maya shouted, just as the opposing team's defensive end lunged at Lucas.

And, as though he could hear Maya's screams, Lucas sped up, ducking to the left so he was just out of the player's reach. And then he dove, right onto the line, scoring the final touchdown of the game.

The team set back up, everybody silent, and prepared for the extra point conversion. Nobody, not even the other team made a sound. There was far too much lying on that one, single play.

"YOU'VE GOT THIS LUCAS!" Maya blurted out, breaking the silence as soon as the play began.

Sure enough, Billy Ross threw the ball right through the air and it landed cleanly in the hands of Lucas, already standing right in the end-zone.

The scoreboard changed, the other team began to trudge off the field and Lucas's teammates ran at him, reading to celebrate. But, he merely shoved the game winning ball into Billy's hands and pushed past his team, racing over towards the cheerleaders, who were all screaming and yelling, jumping around in a big mess of red and white.

He fought his way through the crowd until he found Maya and lifted her up, high off the ground, and swung her around.

He set her down, keeping his hands on her waist and she reached up, removing his helmet from his head. He shook his head, reaching up with one hand to take it from her and placing it over her impossibly high hair. Then he took her pom poms from her, settling his hands back on her waist, the plastic material between his hands and her uniform shell. It looked like something out of a picture-the cheerleading and the football player.

In fact, Maya was sure the school newspaper was snapping pictures of the scene before them. Her mother and Lucas's mother were probably sitting together, comparing the photos they were taking of the scene before them-she wasn't sure when it had happened, but at some point, their mothers had become the best of friends.

It was part of the reason they were allowed to have so many sleepovers together. It was why Maya had a drawer full of clothes at his house and why Maya's mother always stocked up on the healthy, organic and gluten-free snacks Lucas's mother preferred that he ate.

Maya's arms reached up, wrapping tightly around his neck as she finally returned his hug, burying her face in the crook between his shoulder and his neck, which was her favorite place when they were cuddling.

All around them, people were celebrating. The stands were going wild, the football players had raced over to the cheerleaders, taking Lucas's lead, and they were either partnering up or grouping off with their friends in celebratory embraces and make-out sessions. Noise was going off everywhere and the coaches were trying to get the players back on the field to shake hands with the other team.

But Maya and Lucas were lost in their own little world, focused on only one another. It was as if nobody else existed, and they were fine with that.

Because at that moment, Riley didn't matter. Maya didn't have to worry about losing her best friend, because she completely forget about her. Lucas didn't have to worry about Maya's refection out of fear of hurting Riley, because the brunette was the last thing on either of their minds. All that mattered was one another.

"I told you that you were my good luck charm," Lucas smirked down at her.

"Is that why we won?" Maya teased, tilting her head to the side. "Because I want the credit," She smiled.

"You can have-"

"FRIAR! GET OVER HERE!"

"Duty calls," Lucas shrugged, releasing his hold on Maya.

He dropped her pom poms, gave a mock tip of his non-existent hat, and raced back towards the field after his teammates, leaving Maya standing there with his helmet still hanging from her bow, wondering what he had been about to say.

* * *

><p>Maya was still in her uniform, sitting in the front seat of Lucas's car, blaring music that they both actually liked. Lucas had changed into a pair of jeans, still wearing his jersey, driving her towards the victory party. In the backseat were Farkle and Riley, dressed in their mandatory red and white clothing.<p>

_"__And now she__'__s riding in the middle of his pick-up truck, blaring Charlie Daniels yelling TURN IT UP!__" _Maya sang along loudly to the radio, her feet on the dashboard as she kept the beat on her bare thighs.

"_Well you can raise, you can try to teach __'__em right from wrong, but there__'__s one thing you just can__'__t avoid-ladies love country boys,__" _Lucas joined in with her, singing off-key and out of tune.

Her hand immediately shot to the radio, slamming down to turn it off. She shot him a glare from the corner of her eyes and crossed her arms firmly over her chest.

"This isn't _High School Musical, _Lucas. Not everything is a duet," She said coolly.

"Maya," Lucas rolled his eyes, turning the radio back on and picking up on the song right where they'd left off. "Don't try and order me around in my car," He sighed.

"Riley, mommy and daddy are fighting again," Farkle whined.

"They're not fighting, Farkle," Riley giggled. "They're flirting," She stuck her tongue out at her friends in the front seat.

"We are _not _flirting," Maya protested. "Remember the pact?" She reminded them all.

"Well, she's not flirting. I am," Lucas replied.

"Thank you for your help on that one, Augustus Waters," Maya rolled her eyes.

"Will you stop with the pop-culture references up there? And play some _good _music?" Farkle complained.

"Trace Adkins _is _good music," Maya and Lucas said together.

"You two are kind of perfect for one another," Riley observed casually.

"Do you or do you not remember the pact?" Maya asked, hitting her head back against the seat. "God, am I the only one who cares about our friendship?" She muttered.

"Maya, the pact's a good idea and all, but we can't help our feelings. Maybe we should-"

"I like Farkle," Riley blurted out.

"_What?__" _Maya gasped, jaw dropped as her head turned around to stare at Riley with her eyes bulging out of her head. "_What _did you just say? _Please _tell me that you're joking, because there is _no way _that you actually have a crush on _Farkle,__" _Maya said in disbelief, not really caring that she was probably about to hurt Farkle's feelings.

Of course, she did remember what he had told her that day in the library about Riley having kissed him the night before. Maybe there _was _something to what Farkle had said, and maybe Riley was telling the truth.

"You do?" Farkle asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Riley giggled.

"I no longer understand life," Maya groaned as Lucas parked the car. "Okay, whatever, this pact was useless and a waste of my time and energy. Farkle and Riley can date-nothing makes sense anymore," Maya complained as she got out of the car and made her way towards the house.

"Is she angry?" Farkle asked in confusion.

"No," Lucas said quickly.

"That's where you're wrong. If I know my best friend, she's _very _angry right now, because she no longer has an excuse to refuse her feelings for _you,__" _Riley corrected him, loving how there were still somethings she understood and knew about Maya that he would never know.

And, with that, she got out of the car, pulling Farkle right along with her and headed towards the party after Maya.

Lucas shook his head, figuring that he'd never actually understand girls, and got out of the car as well. He locked it up, placed the keys in his front pocket and made his way towards the party, knowing he had to find Maya and act as her babysitter for the night.

She was clearly in the type of mood where she was going to rebel and she was going to drink. And the scariest thing Lucas could imagine was a drunk Maya.

* * *

><p>Lucas always claimed that Maya couldn't handle her alcohol. Whenever she'd be drinking, he'd try to cut her off and say she was at her limit. He told her that the reason she didn't act wild and crazy was because he didn't let her get to an uncontrollable level.<p>

In all actuality, Lucas was being over protective and neurotic, because Maya could handle her alcohol like a pro. Lucas was the one who turned into a stumbling idiot, which was why he made such a good DD. He didn't like how he behaved, so he didn't drink at parties.

Meanwhile, Farkle thought that he was hilarious and usually ended up passed out somewhere about an hour into the night. He claimed he was the best at handling alcohol, but he was a light weight and there was nothing else to say about it.

And Riley became a flirt. Actually, she got liquid courage that she could never have sober, and she was an expert flirt when it came down to it. But, out of fear that she was going to do something she might regret, Maya and Lucas always kept an eye on her and cut her off at some point throughout the night. They'd realized though, after the one time they'd slipped up and she'd had a little bit too much, that she never got to the horny, naive phase. Instead, she skipped that and became a bitch, growing irritable at everything and anything people said to her.

Maya was the protective, mommy-bear type of person. She didn't feel any effects from alcohol-which Lucas claimed was a very dangerous thing-but she always ended up worrying about the safety of her friends.

So, it was slightly annoying that Lucas was following her around and whispering her drink count in her ear every time she twisted open a bottle of Seagrams Escape Jamaican Me Happy.

"Farkle passed out," Riley muttered, storming up to her good looking friends.

She was clearly passed the state of drunk where she loved everybody and claimed that everybody was her favorite. She was no longer clinging onto the nearest guy and flirting with him relentlessly, not caring if he was single or not or even if he was attractive. She was to the state where everybody and everything annoyed her to no end.

"Where is he?" Lucas sighed

"Do we seriously have to leave just because he's passed out?" Riley pouted.

"If we were going to be good friends we would," Lucas shrugged.

"If he was going to be a good friend he wouldn't get wasted," Riley pointed out.

"Is he at least somewhere safe?" Lucas sighed.

"Yeah, he's in a bedroom. I'm actually pretty tired so I was going to go lie down in there, too," Riley explained.

They were at Mackenzie's house and the only juniors allowed to sleep there after the party, because of Maya. Of course, normally they never used that privilege. Apparently Riley wasn't planning on going home that night.

Then again, she'd never had a chance to sneak in snuggling up the the boy she liked all night long, because Lucas always insisted on bringing her home when she was drunk, or at least to Maya's, so he could be sure she was safe.

"Alright," Lucas relented.

And with that, Riley turned around and walked off, still seeming slightly pissed off at the world around her.

"Now that we know those two are safe, will you lighten up and have a beer?" Maya sighed, holding out a can of Bud Lite towards him.

"Why would I-"

"Lucas, _please _have some fun with me tonight?" She pleaded.

He knew that she didn't mean it the same way it could be interpreted, but her pleas and the way she had phrased it tempted him. So, he accepted the beer and basked in the bright smile she flashed at him.

He always had been one to do anything to keep Maya happy.

* * *

><p>"Let's go," Lucas sighed, sitting on the couch with Maya.<p>

The party had been dying down for hours and Maya was pretty sure they were the only two still awake. Everybody else had either gone home or fallen asleep somewhere in the house. And Lucas was bored.

"Go where?" Maya frowned.

"Home-your house. Or mine, doesn't matter. I'm bored," he shrugged.

"You're not capable of driving and we both know how you get when I try to drive your car," Maya reminded him.

"I can drive," He insisted.

"No, Lucas," Maya protested.

But Lucas ignored her words and stood up, stumbling towards the door. Maya jumped to her feet and chased after him putting herself between him and the entrance to the front hall. She placed her hands on his chest to stop him, grateful that in his drunken state, Maya's hands seemed like a barrier he couldn't break through.

"Let me through, Maya," Lucas whined.

"Give me your keys," Maya frowned.

"I want to leave," Lucas complained.

"We can play a game if you stay," Maya promised.

"Any game I want?" Lucas smirked.

"Any game you want. But you have to give me your keys," She explained.

"I don't have them," Lucas shook his head. "I think I lost them," He frowned, looking around the room suddenly, as if just realizing the importance of his car keys.

Of course, Maya could see that they were in his front pocket and she knew that Lucas was too careful to have lost them before he started drinking. And she hadn't seem at all since he had started drinking, and they'd been together all night long.

So, she groaned, rolling her eyes and reached into his front pocket, taking his keys out.

"If you wanna touch it, ya just gotta ask," he laughed.

"Come on, Lucas, let's play a game," Maya sighed.

"You're getting frisky," he laughed even harder as Maya placed her arms around his waist and started to lead him towards the couch. "Are you trying to take advantage of me? You didn't have to get me drunk for that," He smiled goofily as she fell onto the couch, him falling right along with her and her landing on top of him.

"Lucas, _stop,__" _Maya groaned. "Let's just play the game, okay?" She sighed.

She regretted that she'd begged him to drink. Every single time she convinced him to lighten up, he turned into this goofy, stupid mess and she sort of hated it. It was never funny, the way it seemed in the movies. It just bothered her and drove her insane. But, that was what she got for peer pressuring him about drinking.

It was her own fault, which was why she put up with it in the first place. If it had just been his own stupidity that had gotten him in that state, she would have gotten him somewhere he could safely sleep and that would have been the end of it.

Instead, she had caused it and she felt as though that meant she had to humor him with whatever he thought he needed to get through the night.

"Let's place Truth or Dare! But, if you don't answer the question or do the dare, ya gotta do whatever I say," He said as though it were the most clever idea in the world.

"Okay, Lucas-you first," She sighed, moving away from him so that she was sitting besides him, rather than lying on top of him.

* * *

><p>The game had been going on for a while at this point, and neither one had turned down any dares or refused to answer any questions yet. But, things hadn't started to get serious yet.<p>

"Truth or dare," Maya asked lazily.

"Truth!" Lucas answered excitedly.

"Who was the other girl, when you broke up with Riley?" Maya asked.

"You," He shrugged. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," She replied.

"Let your hair down," he ordered.

She rolled her eyes at his lame dare, reaching up to tug her cheerleading bow from her hair. Then she pulled out the two rubberbands that kept the thick mess up. There was no way she could get rid of the poof, but the ponytail was down. She flipped her head over, giving it a quick shake and then flipped it back, shaking it once again so that the teased, hairsprayed curls fell wild and free around her face.

"Truth or dare," She asked.

"Truth," He replied again.

"Why'd you give me such a stupid dare?"

"I love your hair," he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her close to him so that her head was in his lap, her feet on the other end of the couch. "It's one of my favorite things about you," he began to play with her hair, tugging at the curls and running his fingers through it lazily.

She didn't answer. She just snuggled up closer to him and enjoyed the compliment. After all, her hair was her favorite thing about herself as well.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Cut your hair."

"What?" Maya paled, tensing up. "Lucas, I'm not doing that," She insisted.

"Then kiss me," He demanded.

"_What?__" _She asked, laughing nervously.

"The rules were that if you turn down a dare, you had to do whatever I said," He reminded her.

"So you want me to _kiss _you?" She asked.

"Yeah," He shrugged.

She debated it for a second. Neither of them said anything. And then, she sat up, bringing herself up to his level, and slowly leaned in, pressing her lips softly against his. And then his arms wrapped around her waist, holding onto her tightly as he shifted their position so that he was lying on top her, deepening the kiss.

Her arms found their way around his neck, pulling him closer to her. She'd never been kissed like that before. As though she were _needed _by the boy. As if she was the only thing holding him down to earth.

It was wrong of her, and a part of her worried that it was all too good to be true. Her biggest fear was that Lucas wouldn't remember it in the morning-or worse, that he _would _remember and he'd regret it.

But she really couldn't bring herself to care about it too strongly-not when his lips were on hers. That was all she could think about.

* * *

><p>Lucas woke up the next morning with a killer headache and Maya cuddling up to him, closer than he'd ever felt her before. Which scared him, because he was sure she could feel how very much he was enjoying their position.<p>

"Lucas," Maya whispered, snuggling up closer to him.

He tightened his arms around her and smiled at the mention of his name. He buried his face in her hair, barely able to detect the tropical smell of her shampoo from underneath the hairspray scent that as tainting her blonde hair.

"Lucas, Maya?"

Farkle poked his head over the back of the couch, floppy hair hanging everywhere as he studied them.

"Are you guys up? We should be heading home soon. I've gotta get my car from the school still," Farkle explained.

"Yeah, I'm up," He said, searching around the couch for his keys. Finally, he found them, nestled between the back of the couch and the cushion.

He couldn't make sense of how they'd gotten there, because all he could remember was putting them in his pocket when he got out of the car. He handed them to Farkle.

"I'm just gonna get Maya up, okay? I'll meet you and Riley in the car," He promised.

Farkle nodded and headed off. Lucas looked down at Maya and pressed his lips gently to her forehead, trying to savor the moment for a little while longer. Then, just because he was worried he'd never have her like that again, he took his phone from his pocket and snapped a quick picture of them together.

"Lucas?" Maya grumbled, rolling over to face him. "What's going on?" She asked in her rough morning voice.

"We gotta bring Farkle and Riley to pick up Farkle's car, okay? And then I'll take you out for the greasiest breakfast you can imagine," He promised.

"Can I change first? I have some clothes in your car," Maya asked, crawling to her feet.

"You can do whatever you want," He promised, rising to his own feet as well.

He couldn't remember the exact details of what had happened the night before, but he knew that something had happened to change their relationship. He felt closer to her, as though he had some sort of special ties to her.

"Do you remember what happened last night?" Maya asked.

"Please tell me that I didn't throw up," Lucas groaned, swinging an arm around her shoulders as they made their way from the house.

"No, of course not-I wouldn't be talking to you anymore," Maya giggled. "It's just…well-"

"Wait…I kissed you, right? God, I'm sorry, Maya. I shouldn't have done that to you. It's just…I wanted to for so long and you just looked so-"

"Lucas, stop," Maya giggled. "_I _kissed _you,__" _She told him.

"What?" He asked, eyes growing wide as he looked down at her, stopping their walk.

"I kissed you," She repeated with a slight giggle. "Kind of like this," She bit down on her bottom lip as she wrapped her arms around his neck, rising to her tip toes and pulling his face down to meet hers.

And then they were kissing, just like they had been the previous night, only with less pent up hormones. This one was sweeter, filled with more passion and love than lust and desire. It was slow and smooth, their lips just move together in perfect sync, holding onto each other tightly.

"You're kinda good at that," Lucas said when they pulled apart, foreheads touching. "You get a lot of practice?"

"Do you really want to answer to that question?" She giggled, stepping out of his grasp. She took his hand and they started to walk towards the car again. "Because I don't think you do," She teased.

"You're right. I don't wanna hear about any guys in your past. Just the one in your future," He grinned at her, swinging their arms slightly as they walked.

* * *

><p>"Farkle!" Riley said excitedly, slapping him on the arm repeatedly. "Look! Look at Maya and Lucas! They're so cute together!" She chirped happily.<p>

"I _know, _Riley," Farkle laughed, turning to face her and grabbing her tiny wrists in his hands. "Now stop hitting me," He ordered.

"I'm just so _excited,__" _Riley grinned.

"I can tell," Farkle laughed.

"Lucas and Maya are together and…well…I mean…"

"You and I are together?" Farkle asked, tugging on her wrists to bring her closer to him, giving her a quick peck on the lips before wrapping his arms around her.

* * *

><p>Maya tugged at her uniform shell, and then struggled to unzip her crop top that she wore underneath. As she went to yank that off, Lucas reached out a hand and stopped her.<p>

"What?" Maya frowned.

"Don't take that off if you're just wearing a bra under it," He begged.

"Why?" She bit down on her bottom lip.

"Because it's going to be far too tempting for me, and I'm trying to drive," He complained.

"Then focus on the road," She giggled.

"I can't do that when you're undressing."

"I have a sports bra on, okay?" She rolled her eyes, tugging off the top. Then she grabbed one of Lucas's football tee shirts from her back and tugged it on over her white sports bra-which really didn't do much to keep him from getting distracted.

She shimmied out of her skirt and then her boy shorts, shooting him a smirk as she grabbed a pair of denim shorts from her bag and pulled them on. She added her Converse back on and pulled her hair up into a messy bun on the top of her head-definitely one of the sexiest things he had ever seen her do.

Lucas was already changed, having removed his jersey to reveal the white tee shirt he'd had on underneath it. So, they were good to go to their favorite diner and grab some greasy breakfast to cure the hangover Lucas was dealing with.

"Will you come over today?" She asked him softly.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to tell Shawn that we were dating," She whispered.

"You can't tell him that yet," Lucas shook his head.

"Why not?" Maya protested.

"Because we _aren__'__t _dating," Lucas said simply.

And with that, Maya's heart shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.

* * *

><p>"He told me we aren't a couple!" Maya ranted, pacing around the floor of Riley's bedroom wearing her sports bra and shorts. As soon as she'd climbed in through Riley's window, she had removed the shirt.<p>

Once Lucas had said those fatal words, she'd made him pull over and she'd climbed out of the car, ignoring his protests. Then she had walked to Riley's house, climbing up the fire escape and banging on the window until Riley had let her inside.

She felt sort of bad for ruining Riley and Farkle's cuddle fest, but she needed time with her best friend and Farkle had had Riley's undivided attention for the past couple of days without Maya's interference.

So, Farkle had left, the same way Maya had arrived. It would take a lot of explaining for as to why Cory and Topanga hadn't seem Maya arrive at the house when Riley had apparently slept over at her house the night before, but they were used to Maya showing up moments after Riley and her had separated because something had happened to one or the other that required the other one's immediate attention.

"What do you mean he said you weren't a couple? You guys were making out this morning," Riley frowned, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "Is he stupid or something?"

"I don't know. I really just don't know," Maya shook his head, burying her face in her hands.

She had never felt so inferior to somebody before. She felt like she was going to fall into a thousand pieces and disappear. She felt humiliated and embarrassed. She had assumed that just because they had kissed and Lucas had confessed to liking her-somewhat-they were in a relationship.

And she had immediately jumped on the chance to introduce Lucas to Shawn as her boyfriend. Yet Lucas didn't seem to think that they were anything special. He thought that they were something else, apparently.

But Maya was not a side hoe. She didn't do friends with benefits. She liked going on dates, and Lucas had been right to assume that she'd kissed a lot of boys in her life. But that didn't make her a slut.

"Is that him calling?" Riley asked.

"It's _been _him calling. Over and over again. Texting, too. I just don't want to talk to him," Maya shrugged, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her forehead against her legs.

Riley couldn't believe what she was seeing. Strong, confident Maya was crushed, acting like a little child. Riley hadn't seen her so broken up since her father had sent her an invitation to his wedding. The only times Riley had ever seen Maya in such a state was when it came to her father and her pain over the fact that he didn't seem to want her, no matter what she did.

She wanted to hate Lucas for doing this to her best friend, but at the same time, she knew Lucas was far too sweet to have actually meant what he had said in that way. She just needed to talk to him and get his side of the story. She could fix things and she could make them work. She was absolutely sure of it.

There wasn't a doubt in her mind.


	5. Maya and Lucas

**Sugar We're Going Down Swinging  
>A Girl Meets World Fan Fiction Series<br>Chapter 5: Maya and Lucas **

"Let me in."

"Go away."

"Riley, let me in," Lucas insisted, continuing to pound on the window.

Riley shook her head, pointedly turning to look away from him. Maya had escaped to Riley's bathroom five minutes before Lucas had shown up so that she could take a shower-Maya always took long showers when she was upset or stressed. She knew she had plenty of time to get him to leave, but she figured the sooner he was gone, the better.

"Just let me explain," Lucas pleaded.

She sighed, relenting due to the pain in his voice. She had never heard Lucas so upset before, and she didn't like it. She'd never seen him beg before-he'd always seemed to be strong and capable of getting whatever he wanted. But, at that moment, he looked horrible.

His shirt was wrinkled, his hair sloppy and there wasn't that joyous Lucas smile that always brought a smile to Riley's face. Instead, everything about him looked tired and older, as though he had aged a couple of years between the last time Riley had seen him and their current encounter.

"Fine," She whispered, opening up the window and moving aside so that he could crawl into her room.

He sat down on the window seat besides her, and she remembered the first time he'd ever been there before, back when things were easy between all of them. Back when her biggest concern was Lucas finding out that she and Maya talked about him constantly in their very special spot.

"Why'd you tell Maya that you two weren't dating?" Riley asked, grabbing a throw pillow and hitting him in the arm with it.

"Listen, I wasn't saying it because I don't _want _to be her boyfriend. I was saying it because Maya deserves romance and I don't want us to be that couple that got together at a party because we made out when one of us was drunk. She deserves better than that. So, I wanted to take her out and make her feel like she was a character in one of those romance movies she always pretends to hate just so I can make a big deal out of asking her out," Lucas explained quickly, as though he were trying to get it all out in one single breathe.

"Wait…but…that's sweet," Riley cooed, already won over by his statement.

"Come on, Riley-how long did we date? Did that sound like me at all? Obviously I had some reason for being such a jerk about it," Lucas said, flashing her a shadow of his infamous grin.

"Okay, fair enough," Riley giggled. "Well, you're gonna have to talk to her, and the best way to do that right now is to trick her," Riley said brightly, jumping to her feet.

"How are we going to do that?" Lucas asked.

"Easy-I'm going to go and get some snacks and you conveniently crawled in through the window while I was gone. Maya should be back in about five to ten minutes," Riley shrugged, making her way from her room.

"Is your dad going to try and beat me up again, because these are my favorite shoes," Lucas teased.

"Don't worry-it's Shawn you've got to watch out for now. My dad's all about chasing Farkle around ever since I broke the news to him about our relationship. You've moved up on his list," Riley giggled as she disappeared, closing the door behind her.

* * *

><p>Maya entered Riley's bedroom in a rolled up pair of plaid pajama shorts she kept there for emergencies and a grey tank top, stretched out across her chest and ending just below her belly button, a sliver of stomach left bare.<p>

"Riley, do you-what are you doing here?" She asked, stopping directly in the doorway, jaw dropping.

She was in the middle of towel-drying her hair, the white towel clenched tightly in her hands with all of her hair pushed over to one side of her, dangling in wet strands over one shoulder. Her face was scrubbed clean of any make-up and she had on thick, fuzzy grey socks. Lucas had never seen a sexier sight in his entire life.

"I want to explain," Lucas sighed.

"Explain what? That we _aren__'__t _in a relationship? Because I got that much," she rolled her eyes, tossing the towel into Riley's hamper.

"Maya, I didn't mean it like that, okay?" Lucas explained.

"How else could you have possibly meant it? You told me straight out that we weren't in a relationship. Do you know how much that hurt me to hear? What else could you possibly have to say about it?" Maya asked him, voice low but tone bitter.

"I didn't want us to be in a relationship just because we made out at a party, okay? I didn't want it to be one of those assumption things, where we're only together because we made out a party. And I wasn't going to let anybody try to say that's all we were. I wanted to be with you because I like you-a lot," He blurted out.

"That doesn't even make any sense," Maya rolled her eyes, grabbing a comb from Riley's vanity to start to comb out her hair.

"I wanted to take you out on a real date, Maya, and show you how much I liked you. I wanted to spoil you rotten and ask you out in some way you could never forget, because I think you deserve something like that," Lucas shook his head, burying his face in his hands. "But now I've ruined everything," He whispered.

"Lucas," Maya sighed, placing the comb down.

She walked towards him and sat down besides him, Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. And then she slapped him in the back of the head.

"Why are you such an idiot?" She laughed.

"Well, thanks, Maya, that really helps," Lucas grumbled.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I like you-so, _so _much. And I don't care about all that elaborate stuff. I just want to be with you, and I don't really care what anybody else thinks," She shrugged.

"Maya, I know that it's not a big deal to you," Lucas sighed. "It's just…I feel like you deserve a little bit of romance in your life. And I just want to make you happier than you've ever been in your life," He explained.

"You _do _make me happy, Lucas, and I have no doubt in my mind that you're going to make me the happiest girl in the world and completely romance the pants off of me," She giggled, leaning into him.

"Well, I _do _want you out of those pants," He observed, scanning her long, bare legs.

"Focus," She giggled, pushing his shoulder playfully.

"You gotta cover up if you expect me to do that," He flashed her a crooked half smile.

"So, what's the verdict on us?" She asked.

"I'm going to come and pick you up at seven, okay? And we're going to go on the best date of your entire life, and then I'm going to drop you off at home and I'm going to be integrated by Shawn. And after _that _you can decide if we're a couple or not," He said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You really don't have to do this," Maya sighed.

"I know," he said, opening the window back up. "But I want to," He shrugged, climbing outside and heading down the fire escape.

Maya grinned, grabbing a pillow and hugging it tightly to her chest. About thirty seconds after Lucas had disappeared, Riley poked her head into the room, glancing around as if to make sure that the coast was clear. Determining that Lucas was gone, she entered the room and approached Maya tentatively.

"Well….how'd it go?" She asked, flashing a nervous grin at her best friend.

* * *

><p>Maya played with the hem of the black, skater styled skirt she was wearing with the high waistline. The hem was just as high, actually, and she sort of worried that it was too short. She had it on with a black and white stripped cropped tank top, grateful for the high neckline on the shirt, but wondering if it really had to pull so tightly across her chest.<p>

She was elevated to a higher than usual height, wearing a pair of Riley's heels which were much taller than the ones she usually wore. They were red, close toe pumps with such a high heel, Maya was worried she was going to fall and break her neck.

Riley had been banned from doing her make-up, so it was neutral and sparkly, merely bringing out her favorite features and causing her least favorite features to blend in. And her hair had been scrunched up and blown dry, held back with a red headband to match her shoes. She grabbed her red clutch and headed towards the door, ready to go and meet Lucas outside.

"Maya?" Riley called from the couch, where she was cuddling up next to Farkle. "You look gorgeous, by the way," She shot her best friend an endearing smile.

"Lucas's is going to regret the elaborate date he planned out. He's just gonna want to get you alone," Farkle winked at her.

Maya giggled, waving goodbye to her friends. And then she made her way from the apartment, immediately wondering what was going to come from the rest of her life.

* * *

><p>Lucas did a double take when he saw Maya walk out of Riley's apartment building. He had always known that she was beautiful-the most beautiful girl in the world, in fact-but that knowledge was nothing compared to what she looked like at the current moment.<p>

Her legs seemed to go on for days, appearing even longer and toner than they normally did thanks to her high heels. Her skirt ended only a few inches below her ass and it swayed around each curve as she walked. Her top cut off any cleavage, but hugged her chest and made them look even bigger than they actually were.

Her hair was wild and crazy, falling into her face in an untamed manner. And everything about her sparkled, catching the light and making her seem naturally beautiful. Which he was sure she was.

"Are you just going to stare at me?" She giggled nervously, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, head tilted to the side just slightly.

"Sorry," He winced, shaking his head. "I just can't get over how beautiful you are sometimes," he smiled, opening the car door for her.

"Don't be so cheesy-it's not all that appealing," She teased him, sliding into the car.

"Well, if being cheesy is telling you how beautiful you are, you're going to have to start finding it appealing," he winked, closing the door on her.

Maya shook her head as Lucas walked around the car and climbed into the driver's seat. Even though she acted annoyed at everything he was saying and doing, finding his polite and overly nice mannerisms to be slightly overkill, she couldn't help but feel special. Lucas had a way of making her feel like she was any other girl.

He made her forget about the fact that her dad hadn't wanted her. He made it possible for her to feel as though true love was real and it really did work out in the end. It scared Maya to no end, but she felt a thrill every single time she was around him.

"I guess I can get used to it," Maya giggled, reaching for the radio.

"You better," Lucas laughed.

* * *

><p>They parked in a parking garage, and then Lucas was leading her down the busy sidewalk streets, clutching onto her hand tightly. He led her all the way towards the subway, smirking at her confused expression.<p>

"This is where we first met, remember?" He flashed her a grin. "You came up to me and told me that I was cute," He teased, tapping her lightly on the nose.

"I also told you that we were dating and insisted that you made me happy and then that you ignored me, all before breaking up with you over the course of a two minute conversation," She said, making an innocent sort of expression.

"And then you sent Riley into my lap," Lucas pouted.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Maya stuck her tongue out. "Is this our date?" She asked.

"Of course this isn't our date, Maya-don't be ridiculous," Lucas shook his head. "Now, get on the train so we can get to the next part."

"Is this going to be some sort of scavenger hunt where we go to all of the places we've already been?" Maya asked.

"What?" Lucas scoffed. "No, of course not-what do you take me for? A complete cliche?" Lucas faked being insulted.

"Lucas," Maya sighed, stepping onto the subway train. "That's exactly what this is, isn't it?" She asked, dropping down onto a seat.

"Oh, definitely," He nodded, dropping down besides her. "But, in order to make you think I'm a little bit creative…"he reached out and grabbed her waist, picking her up and placing her right on his lap.

"What are you doing?" She giggled.

"Altering some memories to put my favorite girl in them," He informed her, tickling her sides slightly.

* * *

><p>"Lucas, are you trying to kill me?" Maya groaned as she saw the restaurant he was leading her towards.<p>

It was located right in the heart of Chinatown and it was the first place they had all gone together as a group of friends, after seeing that movie that Missy Bradford had technically invited Lucas, too, before telling them all to grow up.

After they'd eaten, they'd all gotten sick. Maya and Riley had stayed camped out on Riley's couch with Topanga bringing them chicken noodle soup and crackers followed by glass after glass of Ginger Ale for an entire weekend. Lucas's mother had made him some organic soup, swearing it would help him feel better sooner-and she had been right, as he had been up and about a full twenty four hours before the rest of them. And Farkle had been home with his personal chef cooking him whatever he wished for.

And they happened to be right outside of that very same restaurant.

"I believe in second chances," Lucas shrugged, hooking his arm through hers and guiding her into the restaurant, ignoring her protests that she didn't even really like Chinese food and would prefer anything else.

* * *

><p>At their next stop, they were at the park Riley always wanted to go to. Despite the rest of the group protesting how childish it was to constantly be playing at the playground, Riley had always insisted that they spend time there.<p>

"I thought we were done with this place," Maya groaned as he led her towards the grass filled fields.

"Of course we aren't," Lucas grinned, always happy. "And stop complaining-I'm trying to be _romantic,__" _He said, sticking his tongue out on the last word.

He began to set up their picnic-a blanket just big enough for the two of them, and then pulled out a jar of Nutella and a container of cut up strawberries. And then he pulled out the item that made Maya's eyes grow wide-a large slice of cheesecake from her favorite bakery of all time.

"You're the best!" She shrieked, lunging at Lucas and tackling him to the ground, landing on top of him in a heap.

She began to cover his face in sloppy cheek kisses, but that slowly turned into a slow, real kiss. And then they were making out, Maya lying on top of him as his hands slowly slid up and down her back. He was the one to end things, sitting up and forcing her to sit up along with him. He kept her cuddling close to him, of course, not wanting to put too much distance between them.

He opened up the container of cheesecake and handed her one of the two forks he had packed. And she immediately dug in, pausing only slightly to feed him a bite or two, or to slather a tiny piece of cheese on the tip of his nose, which she would then kiss right off.

When the cheesecake was gone, they started to munch on the strawberries and Nutella. When that had been finished, they laid back on the blanket, cuddling up close with Maya's head in the crook of Lucas's neck, right between his shoulder and head. And then they stared up at the stars, just sitting close together.

"Alright, time for the next stop," Lucas said, rising to his feet and packing up their picnic.

"Wait-you mean that wasn't the end? That would have been the _perfect _end to our date! What else do you have planned?" Maya asked, jumping to her feet as well.

"You'll see," He smirked, flashing her a quick wink.

* * *

><p>They walked into Lucas's apartment and Maya was immediately embraced by his mother.<p>

"Maya! It's so good to see you!" She exclaimed, holding onto the blonde firmly.

It was strange, the warm welcome she had always given to Maya. Meanwhile, Riley had been convinced that Lucas's mother didn't like her. Parents never preferred Maya over Riley. And nobody disliked Riley. But, Maya had seen the way that Mrs. Friar talked to Riley and acted around her, and it wasn't even close to being the way she talked to Maya.

"Hi, Mrs. Friar," Maya said, returning the hug.

"Mom, we're just gonna watch a movie, okay, and then we gotta take off because there's still one more part to Maya's best date ever," Lucas beamed at his mom, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and leading Maya towards the living room.

They settled on the couch, Mrs. Friar fretting about having to make them snacks despite their assurances that it was completely unnecessary. Lucas turned on the TV and started the DVD, shocking Maya with his pick.

It was _Ouija, _the horror movie that they had all gone to see in seventh grade, before going to that horrible restaurant-which had actually been delicious the second time around. Maya cuddled up close to Lucas-as tough as she seemed, she couldn't handle a scary movie on her own, even if they were her favorite genre of movies.

* * *

><p>Maya had no idea what made their last location special.<p>

She couldn't recall having ever going to Central Park with him and their friends. It was too crowded. Too overdone. And there were far too many tourists there, and everybody knew that Maya hated tourists.

"Why are we here?" Maya asked, her hand latched onto his as they walked around the park, the stars acting as their lights.

"I like it here," he shrugged.

"Why?" She frowned. "It's gross and there are so many people here all the time and there are tourists everywhere…besides, the numbers of pigeons in this one designated area? I don't understand the appeal frankly. It's the biggest tourist trap in the city, and that's saying a lot for the Big Apple," Maya complained.

She'd actually been going that a lot throughout the night and she knew that it was unfair to him, but she couldn't stop. She had been born without a filter and it came naturally to her to speak whatever was on her mind, no matter what that was.

"Because, Maya," He sighed, stopping their walk.

He turned to face her, placing his hands on her shoulders to turn her in his direction as well.

"I wanted to come here, because this is a very special place. Don't you know what happened here?" He asked her, a look of sincerity in his eyes.

Maya actually felt horrible that she couldn't remember what major event had happened there. She couldn't remember having ever _gone _there with him at all.

"I don't," She shook her head.

"That's okay," He said, dropping down to one knee and pulling out a long, velvet box. He held it up to her and smiled. "This is where I asked you to be my girlfriend," He said, popping the box open to reveal a long, slender silver chain with LUCAS spelt out in cursive print, diamond chips flecking the letters.

"Lucas," Maya gasped, shaking her head with tears starting to fill her eyes. "It's beautiful," She said, bringing a hand up to her mouth.

"Maya," He jumped up to his feet, stuffing the necklace in his pocket. "You're crying. Why are you crying?"

"It's just….everything is absolutely perfect," She whispered, hating the tears that were running down her face.

"It's what you deserve," Lucas smiled, reaching out and pulling her close to him, resting his head on top of hers. "It's not even enough. You deserve so much more, Maya. And I'm going to make sure you get everything that you deserve-and more," He promised her, whispering into her hair.

* * *

><p>Maya led Lucas into her apartment, cuddling up in his jacket.<p>

"Shawn?" She called, heading towards the living room. "I need you!" She shouted.

Shawn came walking out of the bathroom, clearly freshly showered and changed into a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a baggy white tee shirt. Nothing about him look scary or intimidating, but Maya could feel Lucas tense up and shrink back in fear.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"I just wanted you to know….that Lucas and I are…well, Lucas is my boyfriend," Maya said, struggling to get the words out at first, and then stating them all in a rush as quickly as possible, afraid she might lose her nerve.

"Oh? Are you?" Shawn asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, sir," Lucas said.

"And what are your intentions with my dear, sweet, innocent Maya?" Shawn asked, raising his eyebrows.

"To give her everything she always deserved in life-and more," Lucas answered quickly.

"If you hurt her, I'm going to hurt you. And if you disrespect her, I'm going to hurt you. Are we clear on that one?" Shawn asked.

"Understood," Lucas nodded.

"Alright," Shawn nodded. "Now, I'm going to go to bed-and you are going to say goodnight to Maya. She better be in her room, _alone _in five minutes." Shawn said, flashing a quick wink at Lucas.

He turned around and started towards his room, pausing at the doorway to look back at them with a watchful eye.

"Oh, and those little sleepovers you guys have all the time? Those aren't going to be happening anymore," he told them, before disappearing into his room.

"I'll see you in my room later, right?" Maya whispered, standing on her tiptoes and pulling Lucas down so that she was speaking directly into his ear. "You aren't really going to stop sleeping over, are you?" She asked worriedly.

"Maya, I like you a lot and I'd do anything for you, but Shawn scares the shit out of me. I don't think I should do anything to piss him off at the moment," Lucas said boldly.

And then he lowered his head, giving Maya a quick kiss on the lips.

"Keep your window unlocked. I'm gonna run home and change, and bring a change of clothes for tomorrow. I'll be back in about an hour, okay?" He promised her, his voice low and barely audible, even to her when he was talking directly into her ear.

Maya smiled, giving him one more kiss goodbye before she turned around and made her way towards her bedroom. The first thing she did was unlock her window and open it just enough that Lucas would be able to open it from the outside when he arrived.

Then she changed into one of his football tee-shirts and a pair of spandex boy shorts. She had way too many of his shirts, but she wasn't planning on giving them back to him anytime soon.

Then she crawled into bed and cuddled up beneath her blankets, She knew that she had to call up Riley at some point and give her all of the details, but she wanted to try and hold onto it for a little while before she shared her information. For just a little while, she wanted those memories to belong to her and only her.

Besides, a part of her worried that Riley might grow bitter if she heard all about the sweet things he had done for Maya. If she found out about the expensive present he had bought her just because he'd wanted to give her something to mark their relationship.

Riley might be with Farkle and she may be over Lucas, but that didn't mean she didn't care that Lucas had never loved her the same way she had loved him. It had to hurt her to see her ex-boyfriend with her best friend, acting as though he had never experienced any of these feelings before Maya had come along. Maya didn't want to rub it in her face.

She was almost asleep by the time she felt somebody slip into bed besides her, wrapping their arms firmly around her waist and pulling her close, placing a slow kiss on her neck. She knew it was Lucas immediately, from the shivers that were sent down her spine from the very first touch.

She snuggled even closer to his hold, knowing that he had left the window partially open on purpose, so that the room would grow just a little bit colder than Maya was used to, so that she would stay closer to him.

"Maya?" Lucas asked, his voice velvety and soft. "Are you awake?" He asked.

"Yeah," She mumbled, still half-asleep.

"Can I tell you something?" He asked her.

"Yeah," She mumbled on sleepily, snuggling even closer to him, turning herself around so that she was facing him.

"I think I might love you," he whispered, the words coming out breathlessly so that it was barely audible for her.

"I love you, Lucas," She mumbled sleepily, barely aware of what was going on around her. All that she could focus on was the warmth that came from Lucas and his arms. But, that didn't make what she had said any less true. She _did _love him. She'd just needed the right time to say it to him.

Or exhaustion-that clearly had the same effects.

* * *

><p>"Why hasn't she called me yet?" Riley asked, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.<p>

She jumped up off of the couch and started pacing, running a hand through her hair frantically. Farkle was sitting on the couch, watching her with an amused smile on his round, boyish face. Really, the only thing that had changed about Farkle since seventh grade had been his height-he was almost as tall as Lucas was-and his hair cut, being a little less little-boy like, but still floppy and long.

"What if she had a terrible time? What if Maya was rude all night and made Lucas feel horrible about everything that he had planned out? What if they got into a fight? Oh my god-what if they're _doing _it?" Riley worried.

"Riley, will you just relax?" Farkle asked. "She's going to call you in the morning. It's late right now. I promise that she didn't have a bad time. I'm sure that she was very polite to him all night-or, as polite as Maya can ever be. And even if she was being miserable, Lucas wouldn't feel bad about what he planned because I _know _what he had planned and it was pretty perfect. And they most definitely didn't get into a fight because Lucas likes her too much to disagree with her-ever. And Maya is _not _the type of girl to hook up on the first date. She's still a virgin, Riley," Farkle rolled his eyes.

"But Farkle-"

"Riley, listen, I like you and I would gladly stay here all night with you, but it's almost midnight and your dad is going to come storming out of his room very soon to kick me out-literally. And I happen to value my life as much as I like you. So, I'm going to head home now and tomorrow morning I'll call you and see if you want me to come over. And by that, I mean I'll call you to see if Maya's called yet," he teased her, rising to his feet.

"But-"

"Riley, stop stressing out," Farkle laughed, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. "I'll talk to you tomorrow," he promised, heading towards the door.

As soon as it clicked shut, Cory was out of his room and walking around the living room, as though he were looking for evidence that Farkle hadn't left.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Riley sighed, dropping down onto the couch.

"Just making sure the boy left," Cory said. "What's wrong with you?"

"Maya and Lucas went out on a date tonight and she still hadn't called me to let me know how it went," Riley whined.

"Boys!" Cory cried out. "The problem is always boys! They're a menace-a menace, I tell you!" He insisted, shaking his head as he marched towards his bedroom.

Riley shook her head, rolling her eyes. She was never going to understand this world that she was supposed to live in. All she was sure about, when she thought about meeting the world and adapting to her life in it, was that she needed Maya by her side if she was truly supposed to take on the world.

After all, the world was a dark, awful, ugly place not to have a best friend in. That was the whole point of having a best friend-to lighten the burden when things got to be too rough.

Which was why it was killing Riley that she didn't know how Maya's date had gone.


	6. Theories, Rumors and Gossip

**Sugar We're Going Down Swinging  
>A Girl Meets World Fan Fiction Series<br>Chapter 6: Theories, Rumors and Gossip**

"Maya, why haven't you-holy _shit! _I _knew _this was going to happen! I _told _Farkle that you-"

"RILEY!" Maya snapped, immediately shooting forward in her bed and fighting to untangle herself from her bedsheets, tumbling out of bed in a very sloppy forward roll. "Would you please just _shut up,__" _She hissed, lunging at her best friend and pulling her to the ground along with her.

"What are you doing?" Riley muttered, shoving Maya off of her. "Did you and Lucas seriously have sex on the first date?" She asked, glancing between the two of them.

"Riles, I love you, but you're an idiot," Maya shook her head, climbing to her feet and straightening her clothes. "Lucas still has all of his clothes on," Maya pointed out, nodding towards a sheepish looking Lucas, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"That doesn't mean anything! He could have put his clothes back on," Riley insisted, shaking her head.

"We didn't have sex," Maya hissed.

"Then why didn't you call me last night?" Riley argued.

"Maya…I'm gonna go," Lucas said awkwardly, climbing to his feet.

He walked towards her and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, flashing her a quick wink and pretending to tip his hat at her. Then, he turned around and made his way towards the window, climbing out of the window and heading down the fire escape.

Maya smiled as he kissed her, and turned to watch him leave. Until he was completely out of her sight, she kept her focus on him, that same smile in place. Once he was gone, she snapped back into reality, whirling around to glare at Riley.

"Lucas and I didn't have sex. Why would you even _think _that? Don't you know me at all?" Maya frowned, hurt clouding over her blue eyes. "What kind of a girl do you think I am?" She asked, wrapping her arms around herself tightly.

"But….why didn't you call me after? You always tell me everything," Riley asked, the same hurt expression all over her face.

"We didn't get home until late, and then we went right to sleep," Maya said. "But me not calling you doesn't constitute as hooking up with Lucas," Maya narrowed her eyes, turning around walking towards her window sill.

"Maya, I wasn't trying to-"

"Get out," Maya said softly, her voice low and harsh.

"What?" Riley asked, taking a step forward.

"I don't want to talk to you very much right now. You accused me of sleeping with Lucas after one date. What kind of girl do you think I am? And do you really think that I'd sleep with your ex-boyfriend so soon after he broke up with you?" Maya said bitterly.

"Oh, so we're going to bring up how Lucas left me for you now?" Riley snapped.

"You can't just suddenly decide that you're going to be mad about that!" Maya yelled, turning back around to face Riley. "_You__'__re _the one who pushed Lucas and me to get together. _You__'__re _the one who came in here all excited to hear about our date. And _you__'__re _the one who accused me of sleeping with him!" Maya shouted.

"What did you expect me to think? He was lying in your bed and you're wearing his shirt!" Riley argued. "And you knew that I always liked Lucas. I'm obviously going to be hurt that he picked you," Riley crossed her arms over her chest.

Then, her dark eyes settled on something sparkly around Maya's neck. They narrowed instantly, trying to zero in on the object resting there, right in the dip between her boobs. The last time Maya had been wearing an extravagant necklace there, it had been something she'd found at the Subway station and tried to claim as her own.

This time, though, it really _was _Maya's to claim. But, it was still something that she had taken from somebody else, in a way. It was something that she had taken from _Riley, _rather than a perfect stranger. And it sort of killed Maya when she saw it.

She knew that that was wrong, because she _had _pushed for them to get together, but that didn't change how she felt. Lucas had been _hers _and then he had left her and Maya had stepped right in. Maya had been there all along, and she had been the reason Lucas had decided that he no longer wanted to be with Riley.

And it stung. It had been far too recent. And the things that stung the most were the realization that Lucas clearly liked Maya far more than he had ever liked Riley. From the fact that he'd risked Shawn's wrath-whom he had always feared more than he feared Cory-to spend the night with Maya, despite Riley's constant pleas that he'd do just that for her, to the fact that he had taken time to plan an elaborate date for Maya and run it by Maya first.

Finally, though, there was the necklace that was hanging around Maya's neck. She'd never gotten anything like that fem Lucas before. Nothing to claim her as his. Nothing to mark their relationship. And, after only one date, Maya had gotten that type of present.

It was the necklace that told Riley that she was wrong. She'd _hoped _that Maya and Lucas had had sex. That way, she could delude herself with the idea that Lucas had wanted to be with Maya so that he could sleep with her, thinking Riley wouldn't want to do such a thing at their age. He could believe that there relationship was based on Lucas wanting to sleep with somebody and figuring Maya's reputation made her seem easy.

But, he had obviously spent a fortune on that gift for her. He'd planned out a flawless date. And they _hadn__'__t _slept together. There was no way that she was going to be able to make herself believe that their relationship wasn't real.

"What's that?" Riley asked, voice soft and all feelings of anger and bitterness gone. Instead, she just sounded sad-broken-torn apart.

"What?" Maya snapped.

Then she followed Riley's gaze, settling down on the necklace. She reached up, her expression softening as she grabbed the pendant, twirling it between her fingertips. She knew exactly what Riley's problem was now.

"This? Lucas got it for me….he wanted to give me something when he asked me out," She whispered, releasing the necklace with a sigh.

"He really likes you," Riley said softly. "He never did anything like that for me, before. He never looked at me the way he looked at you," Riley observed.

"I'm sorry, Riley. I never wanted this to happen," Maya whispered.

"I know," Riley said, walking towards Maya. "Can we hug now?" She asked, opening her arms out to her friend.

"Come here, you big weirdo," Maya giggled, opening her arms as well.

And then the girls were wrapped in one another's embrace, hugging each other so tightly that they lost their balance, falling over onto the ground in a fit of giggles as they forgot about their fight, once again back to being the best of friends.

"You're such a freak," Maya said, pushing Riley off of her.

"Am I?" Riley asked, propping up onto one elbow. "Well, you're an idiot then, because you're best friends with a freak," Riley stuck her tongue out.

"Oh, shut up," Maya said, reaching up to grab a pillow from her bed and whacking Riley in the face with it.

"So, are you going to tell me all about your date or not?" Riley asked, pulling the pillow from her friend's hands and tossing it aside.

"You sure you wanna hear about this?" Maya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm a big girl, Maya," Riley rolled her eyes. "I think I can handle it. Besides, Farkle knows all about what happened, which means I'll just mention how romantic it all was and he'll start working his butt off to make our first official date just as amazing, so I'll get to experience something that that with a guy who likes me as much as I like him," she shrugged.

"Alright-well, you better get comfortable, because this is one _long _story. Literally, that date completely tired me out. I wouldn't have been able to sleep with him if I'd wanted to last night, I was so exhausted," Maya teased her friend, sticking her tongue out.

"Okay, I know-I jumped to conclusions. Can we move on from that topic already?" Riley whined.

"Actually, I was planning on holding it against you for as long as I possibly can, but if it bothers you that much…"Maya teased.

"MAYA!" Riley complained loudly.

"God, would you _shut up? _It's early and you're yelling," Maya shook her head. "I'm not going to tell you the story if you continue to shout," She said seriously.

"Okay, I'm done talking," Riley said, straightening up and placing her hands in her lap. "Go ahead, I'm ready," She beamed at Maya.

* * *

><p>"You seriously didn't sleep with her?" Farkle asked, shaking his head in disbelief.<p>

Lucas had picked him up as soon as he'd left Maya's house and the boys had driven to McDonalds for breakfast. Now, they were talking about Maya and Lucas's date, and Farkle's developing relationship with Maya.

"No," Lucas shook his head. "Well, I mean, I guess we _technically _did, but we didn't do anything _other _than sleep. Our clothes stayed on-but, damn…if I'd thought for just one minute that she wanted to, I would have been all over that," Lucas admitted, lowering his voice at the end of his sentence.

"I can't believe you had the nerve to even try to sleep at her house. Shawn's _terrifying. _Besides, I thought the whole reason you never stayed at Riley's was because you were afraid of Cory?" Farkle asked, leaning back in his booth.

"Nah," Lucas shook his head. "I never wanted to stay as much as I wanted to stay at Maya's, as awful as that sounds," He admitted, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Dude, you know that I was always rooting for you and Maya to get together," Farkle rolled his eyes.

"But, it didn't matter how scared of Shawn I was, because Maya really wanted me to stay. She says she sleeps between when I'm there," Lucas shrugged.

"You've been staying there since before Shawn came around, weren't you?" Farkle asked innocently.

"Yeah….why?" Lucas asked curiously.

"Because…."Farkle trailed off. "I was just thinking…do you think, maybe, a part of why Maya wants you there so badly is because you make her feel safe? That was a rough time in her life-right before Shawn came around," Farkle confided.

"I know what her life was like," Lucas said, narrowing his eyes. "We've talked about it. How do you think we got to be so close?" He asked, a defensively bitter edge to his voice.

"How _did _you two get to be so close? I always wondered about that, actually," Farkle asked, partly to change the subject and partly because he was actually curious about it.

"Well, that's sort of a long story…."Lucas sighed, but he went right into the story anyways, the memory still fresh in his head.

* * *

><p><em>Lucas got to Maya<em>_'__s window that afternoon, but he didn__'__t knock immediately. He__'__d known that something had been bothering her all day, but he hadn__'__t wanted to say anything out of fear of making her even more upset. He really hated to see her cry-it was like looking at a sad angel. There was just something wrong about the sight. But he didn__'__t know that just yet._

_ Sure enough, she was curled up in a ball, wearing an oversized sweatshirt that fell off of her shoulders. It was the first time he__'__d ever come to her house, before Halloween of their seventh grade year. She was sitting on her bed, knees tucked up to her chest and her forehead resting against her thighs, shoulders shaking. _

_ He never never seen her look so broken up before. He had always thought that she was Maya Hart: tough as nails and bad to the bone. She was supposed to be untouchable__…__only, she wasn__'__t and he hadn__'__t been prepared to see that. _

_ Just as he finally went to knock on the window, she looked up, as though they were bonded by some sort of telepathic link. She got up slowly, moving towards the window. Silently, she pulled it open and stepped aside, allowing him to crawl inside. He sat down on her window seat and reached out, pulling her onto his lap, holding her close to him. _

_ He had been so sure that she was going to punch him. But she hadn__'__t. She__'__s just allowed herself to be held, and she snuggled up closer to him. He allowed her to cry, not saying anything at all. He wasn__'__t going to push her to talk about it-not if she didn__'__t want to. He knew what that was like, to have your deepest secrets torn out from where you had shoved them so far back, hiding them from the world around you. He had always hated it when people did that to him, and he would never do that to anybody else-especially somebody like Maya, who prided herself in acting as though nothing had ever bothered her. _

_ "__Lucas,__" __Maya asked softly, no longer crying. She was out of tears. It didn__'__t matter that she was still said. She had cried herself fresh out of tears and there was no way around it. __"__Do you think I could just__…__talk to you?__" __She asked. _

_ "__Of course you can,__" __He answered, his voice slightly muffled because he was speaking into her hair. It was the first time he__'__d been that close to her, and the first time he__'__d realized how much he enjoyed the smell of coconuts. __"__But, you don__'__t have to tell me what__'__s wrong if you don__'__t want to. I__'__ll do whatever you need me to do to make it right-or, at least, to try and make things better,__" __he promised. _

_ "__I know you will,__" __Maya nodded, pushing away from him slightly. __"__I trust you, Lucas, and I want to tell you what__'__s wrong. But you have to keep it a secret, because even Riley doesn__'__t know,__" __She said, looking right into his eyes. _

_ "__Your secret__'__s safe with me,__" __He assured her. _

_ "__It__'__s just__…__my dad was having an affair. He was in my life up until I was five, and then he left my mom. I didn__'__t know why, but I found out that it was an affair last night. I asked my mom why I never got to visit him and why she was keeping me from him, and she snapped,__" __Maya whispered. __"__She told me that he didn__'__t want her-didn__'__t want __**us-**__that he didn__'__t want __**me,**__**" **__Maya croaked on the final word. _

_ "__Well, he__'__s an idiot then, because you__'__re the greatest girl I__'__ve ever met,__" __Lucas told her. _

_ "__I can__'__t blame him for leaving, Lucas,__" __Maya snorted. __"__This place is a shit hole and my mom__'__s insane, and I__'__m nowhere near being the perfect child. But did he really have to cheat on my mom? And he left because the other woman got pregnant. He was going to have his own fresh start,__" __Maya was growing bitter, clearly full of hatred for her father. _

_ "__Maya__…__.you__'__ve been to my house. You__'__ve met my mother. And I__'__m sure you noticed the lack of pictures of my father,__" __Lucas sighed, brushing a blonde curl from her face. _

_ "__So?__" __Maya furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. _

_ "__My dad cheated on my mom, too-and he__'__d been cheating on her for years. He only came clean because my mom finally wised up and was about to figure out that something was up. When she accused him of it, he didn__'__t even try to deny it. And, you wanna know the worst part? He didn__'__t even bother to fight for custody of me. Anyways, I had to move away from my home, from my school, from all of my friends__…__I had to leave my entire life behind so my mom could come and move us here, so she could be closer to her family and have some sort of help taking care of me. And my dad didn__'__t even try to fight it,__" __Lucas released a humorless laugh. _

_ "__I didn__'__t__…__why didn__'__t you ever tell us?__" __Maya asked, her jaw dropping. _

_ And then her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist, embracing him in the tightest hug she could muster with her seventh-grade-girl strength. She wanted to make everything alright for Lucas. She wanted to make everything alright for herself. _

_ But she couldn__'__t do that. And, the only thing she had learned from her friendship with Riley about making people feel better, was that a hug always worked. A hug could never fail to bring a smile to somebody__'__s face, to restore their hope, and to just make them feel as though they weren__'__t alone in the world anymore. _

_ Before long, Lucas had wrapped his arms around Maya as well, keeping her close to him. _

_ "__That__'__s his sweatshirt, isn__'__t it?__" __Lucas asked, as they finally broke apart. _

_ "__I hate it__…__but I like feeling as if he__'__s close__…__.it__'__s sort of comfortable, to have some kind of male presence around, and it still smells like his cologne. But__…__I hate the way it makes me think of him all the time,__" __Maya said, eyes welling up again. _

_ And just like that, Lucas was pulling off his sweatshirt-one from his old school back in Texas-and holding it out to Maya. _

_ "__I know it smells like me, and not your dad, and that it doesn__'__t have the same memories that his would have, but I just want you to have it and know that I__'__m always here for you,__" __he said sheepishly. _

_ And just like that, Maya was tugging off her father__'__s sweatshirt and tossing it aside, replacing it with Lucas__'__s own. And that was the start of Maya__'__s ever-growing collection of Lucas__'__s clothes at her house, and her habit of wearing something of his everyday, just so she could remember who her real hero was. _

_ "__Do you think you could sleep over tonight? I don__'__t want to be alone,__" __Maya whispered, nervously twirling a strand of hair around her fingertips. _

_ "__I__'__m here as long as you want me,__" __He promised her, giving that mock tip of the hat that brought the first smile to her face that day. _

* * *

><p>"How come you never told any of us about your dad?" Farkle blurted out.<p>

"It's not really something I like to talk about," Lucas rolled his eyes.

"Don't you go visit him in Texas every year?"

"That's to see my grandparents," Lucas said, eyes hardening. "My dad couldn't be bothered to see me."

"Well, it's his loss, then," Farkle replied. "Anyways, that game on Friday was amazing! I can't believe my best friend was the MVP of the game that determined if we got into playoffs!" Farkle's eyes sparkled as he changed the subject easily.

And Lucas smiled, grateful to have a best friend as caring and considerate as Farkle was. He might complain about the little guy from time to time, but he really did love him like a brother.

* * *

><p>"Can I sleep over tonight?" Riley asked.<p>

"Yeah, sure-just let me call Lucas," Maya reached for her phone and typed in number 2 on her speed dial-somethings would never change and Riley would always be her number 1.

She waited for him to answer, listening to the annoying, inconsistent ringing sound blaring between the phone lines. Finally, he picked up.

"I love you," He said as a greeting.

"You're such a weirdo," Maya giggled. "But you too. Anyways, Riley's sleeping over tonight, so it's probably a better idea if you don't come over tonight," She said, wincing at the statement.

Since Lucas's visits had become a regular thing, she'd never told him not to come over while she was home. If she was sleeping over at Riley's, that was a completely different matter and he understood, when she'd take off to Riley's after school instead of to her own place. But she'd never uttered those words before, that she wanted to be without him.

"It's not that I don't want you here," She said quickly. "It's just that, it would probably be awkward with Riley here and I don't know how appropriate it would-"

"Maya," Lucas laughed into the phone. "Calm down, okay? I'm not mad and I don't think that you don't want me there. I get it," He soothed.

"You really are the best," She smiled, even though he couldn't see it.

"That's only because I've got a girl as amazing as you," He replied. "Anyways, you still want a ride tomorrow? I can bring both of you," He offered.

"Sure, that would be great, actually," Maya grinned even wider.

"Alright-I love you," He repeated.

"I know," She smirked, knowing he could picture exactly how she'd deliver the line.

"Don't you love me, too?" He asked, a slight whine to his voice.

"Of course I do," Maya giggled.

"Well, don't tease me like that, okay? It's awful," He scolded her.

"Oh, but you're just so much fun to mess with!" She said gleefully. "I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked.

"Wouldn't miss it," He assured her.

And then they hung up, both members of the couple smiling from ear to ear due to the other person.

Maya, smiling because she had never had somebody who understood her so easily-so fully-and accepted her with every single one of her flaws, without ever once trying to get her to change who she was. Because she had never had somebody in her life to love her the way that she knew Lucas did. Because she had never seen love like what she had with Lucas directly in her own life. She'd never believed it could really exist for anybody other than Cory and Topanga, even when she had first met Lucas. It wasn't until very recently, when they had become a couple, that she had come to realize that Cory and Topanga might actually be something realistic-the feelings, that is, not the timeline. That would have to be unique to each couple.

Lucas was smiling because he had never thought that he'd get his chance with Maya. He had come to accept the fact that she would always be just a little bit out of reach, impossible for him to grasp. He'd wanted her, but he'd figured a girl like her would never want to be with a guy like him. As similar as they were, they were different as well and their differences were blatantly obvious to everybody around them. Still, it had been their similarities that had consisted of the stuff that really mattered. And that was why they worked so well together. Lucas couldn't get over the fact that for once-for one time in so very long-everything seemed to be going his way and he could actually relax, beginning to be happy-truly happy, that is-for the first time in a very long time.

They made each other happy, that was all there was to it. Happy in a way that nobody else could make them, because they just had a way of knowing exactly what the other one needed. Maya was everything that Lucas wasn't-blatantly honest at all times, extremely sarcastic, and a realist. And Lucas was everything that she wasn't-naturally kind-hearted, charming and optimistic. It allowed them to bring out the best in one another.

Riley could tell just from the smile on Maya's face throughout the entire conversation that she had never been happier, and probably would never be happier than she was when she was with Lucas. And that hurt a little-knowing her best friend was so happy because of a cause besides herself, especially when said cause was her ex-boyfriend-but she was able to cope with it, because Maya deserved something like that in her life.

* * *

><p>"Lucas," Billy Ross drawled into the phone.<p>

Despite the cruel things Billy had once said to Farkle, he and Lucas were still teammates. Besides, he had apologized to Farkle and never said anything cruel thing to the boy. So, if Farkle was willing to forgive him and put on a nice-guy act, Lucas figured he could do the same and be kind to his teammate.

Besides, he really did like the way he could talk to Billy. Farkle was his best friend-there was no doubt about that-but he and Billy were far too much alike for him to ever completely push out of his life. They liked the same sports, could argue about their favorite sports teams, were able to discuss girls freely, and they shared the same group of mutual friends whom never of them were actually very close with.

"What's up?" Lucas asked, leaning back in his desk chair.

He'd finally settled down to do some homework after Maya had called him to request he not come over that night. It was probably a good thing she hadn't needed him there, because he really did have to finish his homework and he couldn't concentrate with her there-not when he was finally able to lean over and kiss her whenever he wanted to.

"Rumor has it that somebody had a date with Maya Hart last night," Billy said casually. "Care to elaborate?" He asked.

"We went out," Lucas agreed. "We're dating now," He added on.

"Did you bang her?" Billy asked.

"Dude!" Lucas shot forward, eyes growing wide.

The thing with Billy was that he was incredibly blunt and blatantly obvious. That had been the problem he'd had with the whole Farkle situation. He said what was on his mind and what he believed to be true. He really didn't have a filter, and sometimes Lucas loved that about him, because it made for hilarious times, but other time he couldn't stand it, because it made him want to punch his teammate right in the face.

"What? She's hot-definitely the hottest girl in our class and one of the hottest cheerleaders," Billy defended.

"I'm not dating her because she's _hot,__" _Lucas said indignantly.

"Then why _are _you dating her?" Billy shot back.

"Because she's Maya, and I'm in love with her," Lucas said simply.

"Dude," Billy laughed. "That's romantic and all, but here's the reality of the situation. A girl like Maya likes something when there's a chase. You were a challenge-the nice guy, the star athlete, and her best friend's ex-boyfriend. But she's got you now, and she's going to get bored. You gotta do something to keep her interested," Billy explained.

"What made you an expert on Maya?" Lucas demanded. "You don't even know her," He muttered.

"Lucas, I know her better than you think I do-besides, Troy Matthews is single again, and we all know how Maya gets when it comes to him. Do you really want to risk losing her to a guy like him?" Billy asked.

"What do you mean he's single?" Lucas roared.

"He's single, and word is, he's got his eyes set on Maya," Billy said.

Billy usually had pretty correct information. He was always good for the latest rumor and verifying the truth of his statement. If Billy was saying it, there was at least some sort of truth to it, because he never repeated anything that he didn't believe.

And that was what scared Lucas.

Billy was right-if Troy Matthews was single, he was going to have to do everything he could to keep Maya interested in him. He had to pull out all of the stops and do something to show her just how dedicated he was to her. How much _better _he was than the school's residential bad boy.

"Billy, I have to go," Lucas sighed.

"You're coming up with a plan, aren't you?" Billy sighed.

"You know it," Lucas agreed, hanging up the phone.

And then he tossed it down on his desk, running his hands through his hair. He tugged at the silky locks. He released a loud groan, shoving all of his textbooks from his desk, jumping to his feet. Then he stormed towards the other side of his room and back again, looking for something else that he could throw.

Lucas wasn't the type of guy to get angry. He didn't have rage-fits. He prided himself in being calm, cool, and collected at all times.

But the idea of Troy Matthews laying one finger on Maya-on _his _Maya-sickened him to no end. It made him see red. If he saw Troy even _look _at her the wrong way, he was going to hurt the kid, because he couldn't lose Maya.

And everybody knew about the infatuation that Maya had with Troy. She thought he was mysterious. She thought he was charming. She thought he was good-looking. And she thought that he was the type of guy she deserved to be with. No matter what Lucas did, he would probably never be able to convince Maya that she deserved to be with somebody like him.

She was always going to think that she wasn't good enough, and that one day Lucas was going to realize it as well. No matter what happened, Maya would always be terrified that Lucas was going to walk away from her and break her heart.

What she didn't seem to understand-what she would probably _never _understand-was that Maya was the one with the power to break somebody's heart in their relationship. Sooner or later, she was going to break Lucas's heart.


	7. When Push Comes To Shove

**Sugar We're Going Down Swinging  
>A Girl Meets World Fan Fiction Series<br>Chapter 7: When Push Comes to Shove**

Maya quickly got dressed the next morning, slipping on a pair of dark wash, high waisted short shorts and a black cropped tee shirt. She tugged an old, red and black plaid flannel of Lucas's on over her shoulders and tied the laces of her black Converse sneakers.

As she was finishing up scrunching up her, buttery blonde curls, contained by a black, thick stretchy headband, Riley came skipping into her room, already dressed in a floral print skater skirt and a pink cropped tee shirt tucked neatly in, pink sandals showing off her painted toes. Her dark hair was pulled back, away from her face.

The girls couldn't look any more different. One was girly and sweet, the other rough around the edges. One was light in coloring, the other one fair with dark features. One was short and curvy, the other tall and thin. Yet they were the very best of friends and nothing was ever going to change that. So many things had happened that should have pulled them apart from one another, yet they had clung onto one another. Nothing could come between them by this point in the game.

Her phone buzzed as the girls gathered their things and headed out of the apartment, ready to go and meet Lucas to head towards school. She sighed, reaching into her back pocket and pulling out the thin device, unlocking the screen without looking at the name. But, when she read the message, she wished she'd paid attention to who it had been from.

**Troy: So, guess who's single?**

As she went to return her phone to her pocket, it buzzed again, a series of vibrations rushing through her hand as the texts continued to come in, one right after the other, all from the same person.

**Troy: I know I'm a jerk.****  
><strong>**Troy: You should hate me.**

**Troy: Please, just hear me out?****  
><strong>**Troy: I really want to try with you.**

**Troy: Maya, please just talk to me?**

**Troy: I'm begging.**

**Troy: I'm not giving up. **

"Who's texting you?" Riley asked innocently as the girls got to the car.

"Nobody," Maya shook her head, pulling open the passenger's door and climbing inside, giving Lucas a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Sure seems like a lot of messages to be coming from nobody," Riley observed, crawling into the backseat.

"It's really-"

**Troy: I know that you're with Lucas, now.**

**Troy: But you should know that I don't care. **

**Troy: You could do better than him. **

**Troy: I really just want to give it a chance. **

**Troy: At least hear me out?**

**Troy: Can we just talk? **

**Troy: Please?**

"Somebody's popular this morning," Lucas observed, raising his eyebrows at her as he shifted gears, heading back onto the street. "Farkle wondering what's going on that we're all together without him? I'm sure the little guy's dying to know what he's missing out on," Lucas teased, flashing Maya that easy going grin she loved so much.

"It's nothing," Maya shook head. "Just some stupid group message for the cheerleading team. Nothing important," She forced a smile.

Internally, she was freaking out.

She had been interested in Troy Matthews since he had arrived in New York City with Cory's brother Eric back when the girls were freshman. She'd immediately been drawn in by his bad-boy exterior. He was cool in a way that nobody else she knew was capable of being cool.

He just didn't care about what other people thought of him. He came from a rough home life, his mom having walked out on his father and him, only ever trying to get custody when she thought that having him would provide her with some extra cash flow from Eric.

And he had immediately taken an interest in Maya, from the second he had met her. He'd talked to her about everything-her home life, her favorite movies, her favorite books-anything and everything, whatever she wanted. He just seemed to be so honest and true. She had believed every single line he'd fed her.

When he had asked her to Homecoming, she'd been ecstatic and immediately said yes. At the dance, things took a turn for the worse and he ended up getting with Missy Bradford halfway through the night. They'd dated for a short while after that, and then Troy had started to bounce around from girl to girl. He never seemed to show anymore interest in Maya after that.

Until now, that is.

Suddenly, he was begging for Maya to take him back. He was apologizing and pleading for her to just hear him out. He was acting as though he actually had some sort of remorse about what he had done.

Still, Maya couldn't bring herself to believe him. Even if she did, she wouldn't care. She _shouldn__'__t _care, because she was with Lucas and that was all there was to it.

So, why did his constant texts make her feel completely satisfied? Why did she feel her heart start to race every time her phone buzzed, now that she knew it was him? Why was she eagerly awaiting his next message?

Because Maya had never really gotten over Troy, the boy who would have been perfect for her. He was the type of boy that a girl like Maya was _supposed _to be with. He was her male counterpart, whereas Lucas was the male counterpart of Riley.

She may love Lucas, but a part of her was always going to whisper those terrible, bitter and hateful thoughts that she just wasn't worthy of a guy as amazing as he was. That same voice was going to tell her, over and over again, that she was supposed to be with somebody bad-somebody who screamed TROUBLE.

She was the bad girl. The troublemaker. The rebel.

It didn't matter that she was a cheerleader or that her grades were close to perfect. She was from a broken home and she'd started off her life as a troubled youth. And that meant she belonged to a certain caliber, at least, according to her fellow classmates.

And with a reputation like the one that she had? Well, that meant that only one thing could be true about her type.

A girl like Maya was supposed to be with a boy like Troy.

* * *

><p>Maya walked into her art class, dropping down at her favorite easel, right by the window. It had the best lighting, and everybody knew to stay far away from it, because it was meant for Maya. Even their teacher knew that nobody other than Maya was allowed to sit there.<p>

She dropped her bag down and made her way towards their art lockers to grab her supplies. And that was when she noticed the strange sight at the easel besides hers.

Troy Matthews-the boy who rarely ever came to class, and _never _came to his electives-was seated at an easel, already sketching away with her sketchbook on his lap. He was hunched up on the stool he was sitting on, a piece of charcoal wedges between his fingers and his tongue sticking out just a bit from between his rosy red lips.

Immediately, she knew what he was up to, which was was she refused to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging him. If she did that, and he had pretty much won and she refused to give him that sort of satisfaction.

She shook her head, making her way to her locker. She spun the dial around, pulling the door open and grabbing her colored pencils and paint sets. Then she turned on her heel and made her way back to her easel, nose in the air as she passed by Troy.

Then she settled at her easel and removed a black colored pencil from the case, closing her eyes and allowing her hands to freely glide across the page. She never planned what she was going to draw. She couldn't set into it with a goal or an idea of what she wanted the outcome to be. Instead, she just had to do whatever it was her heart told her to do. Her fingers took control when it came to her artwork.

"Hey, Maya?"

She glanced up and mentally cursed herself for being so stupid. After all, she should have known better than to even acknowledge the fact that he was there. But she had given him her attention and there was no way for her to go back from that. It was far too late.

"What?" She rolled her eyes. "Didn't you get the hint that I didn't want to talk to you from the way I ignored…."She trailed off, eyes growing wide as he turned his sketchbook towards her, showing her an incredible charcoal drawing.

It had been carefully etched out, the details rough to form the face, but softer at each curve. Long hair, lazily drawn fell even further than the page. The shadowing showed the obvious way the artist seemed to think the light shown down on this girl. But, it was the eyes that were the best part. They were the only thing with any ounce of color to them-a deep shade of navy blue, with gold around the pupils. It made it very clear to Maya that the drawing was of her, and she knew that responding would give him the reaction that he wanted, but she couldn't help herself.

It was absolutely breathtaking. It was incredible. It was _perfect. _

Nobody had ever done something so thoughtful for her before, and nobody-not even the best artist-could draw somebody they were just trying to play a game with the way that Troy had just portrayed her. There was too much emotion in it. It said too much.

There had been far too much thought given to it. There as something about Maya that attracted Troy to her-she was sure of it now. It was probably the same type of attraction that made it so hard for Maya to ignore him.

But as it enough?

Could it possibly be enough to make her forget about Lucas and the way that she felt about him? How could anything compete with dear, sweet, lovable Lucas who only wanted to see her smile? Who only wanted to make her happy?

"Well? Do you like it?" Troy asked, one single corner of his mouth turning up into a slight smile. "You get it, right?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Is it…is that really me? How you see me?" She asked softly, the words getting stuck in her throat.

"Of course it is," he shrugged, turning the sketchbook back around. "You know, the only reason I ditched you that night, was because I thought it was too good to be true-that a girl like you could never actually pick a guy like me," He explained softly, his voice velvety and smooth.

She was quiet, unsure of how to respond. She was so caught up in his words that she didn't even notice everybody else packing up their things. Instead, when the bell rang, all of her supplies were still out, her painting still not quite done. Meanwhile, Troy just stood up, flashed her a smirk, and headed off towards the crowded hallways.

It wasn't unusual for Maya to need a late pass from her art teacher. She was often getting caught up in her work and barely finishing things up in time. This wasn't even the first time she hadn't finished her piece before class ended. It was all usual.

The only thing that wasn't usual was the strange feeling she felt in the bottom of her stomach. The confusion that filled up her brain. And the uneasy feeling that she was sure she wouldn't be able to hide all of this from Lucas for very much longer. He was far too smart-he knew everything about her, and he could read her like a book.

"What are you doing here?" Maya sighed, shaking her head as she walked towards her locker.

Troy had just strolled back into the room, his swagger showing that he had no cares in the world. He was sure everything would fall into place and work out for him, in the end. Maya hated that confidence, but she admired it at the same time.

"I forgot something," He shrugged, walking towards her.

"What's that?" She asked, slamming her locker door shut and turning back around.

And then his hand was her waist, the other one cupping her face as he pulled her close to him, pressing his lips against hers. Maya didn't even have time to react. As quickly as it had started, it was over and he was walking away, that same smirk on his face.

Lucas was going to find out, and she wasn't sure how he was going to take it. Not at all.

* * *

><p>Lucas hadn't seen Maya since third period, their final class together before lunch. He'd been hoping to find her during lunch, to try and talk things out with her about the whole Troy situation. Yet, she wasn't in the cafeteria. Which meant she could only be in one place.<p>

So, he made his way down into the basement of the school and into the art room-the drawing and painting room, to be particular, as he knew it was her favorite one.

There she was, standing before an easel, slathering paint onto the blank canvas with immense passion and a strong sense of freedom. Her golden blonde hair was piled up onto the top of her head, a few strands falling into her face despite her efforts to keep it from interfering with her work.

He approached her slowly, not wanting to scare her. He settled down on a stool besides her, placing his bag down onto there floor and leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees, chin resting in his hands. He really loved to watch Maya work.

When she took a step back to study her work, bringing the paintbrush up to her lips, pursing them together thoughtfully, she finally noticed that she was no longer alone with him.

"What are you doing here?" Maya blurted eyes, eyes widening and jaw dropping. "I didn't even see you come in here!" She gasped, dropping the paintbrush down on the easel and wrapping her arms around him, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"I didn't want to disturb you-you're cute when you're painting," He smirked at her, sticking his tongue out. "Whatcha working on?" He asked curiously.

"I'm just…..I don't know," She shook her head, glancing towards the easel which resembled, to anybody else sure was sure, a mess of lines, colors blurring together.

In all reality, she had picked out her colors carefully-the pink for Riley, to broadcast her happy, girly, optimistic nature. It was entwined through the entire page, overlapping easily with the yellow she had used to Farkle, meant to represent his always happy persona and his outgoing, loud nature. Lucas's green swirls looped easily around the page, appearing randomly-he was something new, a fresh start. And then there was Maya, her lines all sharp angles full of intensity, her own color a raging shade of red.

The shadows probably confused anybody, though. They'd confused her at first. But they were for Troy, coming out of the edges of the page and heavily overlapping with Maya's red lines, outlined with Riley's bright pink.

"I'm confused," She admitted.

There was no choice. She really did have to tell him. It was better if he found out about the Troy situation from her, rather than hearing it from somebody else. That way, nothing could be twisted.

And at least they were alone, so that Lucas couldn't really do anything all that horrible about what was going on. He'd have time to adjust and cope, if he became angry, something out of character for him. He'd have time to man up and hide his pain, if the news worried him and broke his heart. She wasn't sure how he was going to react, because there had never been a type of drama to this caliber when he had been dating Riley. Things had been easier between them-and that was another reason Maya was terrified of telling Lucas.

He hadn't had to deal with such things in his previous relationships. What if he thought that the drama was too much? What if he didn't think being with Maya was worth the chaos that came with it? What if he ended things with her on the spot?

"What's going on?" He asked, taking her hands in his and pulling her onto his lap. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"Troy broke up with his latest girlfriend as soon as he found out we were together," Maya blurted out. "And he's been texting me all day, begging me to talk to him and just hear him out. He tried to apologize for what happened between us and he keeps saying that he really does like me and wants to be with me," She reached up to nervously tug at her loose curls.

"And?" Lucas asked, immediately tensing up.

"I ignored them, because I don't feel anything towards him, especially when it's compared to the way I feel about you," She assured him quickly, leaning against his chest. "But, during art today, he actually showed up and he sat next to me. When class was almost over, he showed me what he'd been working on-it was a drawing of me, and it was beautiful. The type of thing you can't make about somebody you don't care about," She explained, slowly rising to her feet, walking back towards her easel.

She started flipping through the pages, showing portraits that resembled people in their grade, but without any real emotion behind it. It looked simple, plain, and it didn't have anything close to the personality the person had. They were incredible drawings-everything Maya did was incredible, after all, especially her artwork-but they were nothing compared to the constant portraits she was making of her friends.

"Believe me-I tried," She shook her head.

"So? What does that mean?" Lucas asked her.

"I don't know…"She sighed.

"Do you have any sort of feelings towards him?" Lucas asked.

"I just-I don't…Lucas, he kissed me," Maya blurted out.

"What?" Lucas snapped, jumping to his feet. "When?"

"After art-I was cleaning up my stuff, because I ran late again, and he came back all of a sudden and said he forgot something. And then he kissed me," she sighed.

Lucas shook his head, turning around and storming from the room. Maya started chasing after him.

"Lucas, wait! Where are you going?" She asked, trying to get him to stop. She reached out, grabbing his arm, but he just yanked it away from her, quickening his pace. "What are you doing?"

He turned around, hearing the pain in her voice. When he took in her watery blue eyes, her crumpled face, he realized what she was thinking. He moved back towards her, wrapping his arms firmly around her, giving his a kiss on the forehead. Then he leaned down and gave her a peck on the lips.

"I'm not mad at you," he assured her. "I couldn't blame you for this," he promised.

"Then-"

"I'm going to go and have a little talk with Troy, okay? Everything's going to be fine, and I'm going to handle this," He promised, flashing her that reassuring grin.

"If you say so," Maya shook her head. "I have to go and clean up the art room-I'll see you after?" She forced on a small smile.

"Of course you will," he winked, giving her another quick kiss.

* * *

><p>"Did you hear about the fight?"<p>

"They looked awful."

"I can't believe he did that."

"He always seemed so…._nice.__" _

"I heard Troy got the worst of it."

"No way! Didn't you see Lucas?"

"What was it even about?"

"What do you think?"

"Troy was mad Lucas dumped Riley for Maya?"

"Of course not-besides, _Lucas _started it."

"What? Then what was it about?"

"Maya, obviously!"

"Maya? What about her?"

"Troy's been trying to break them up."

"Lucas completely lost it."

"He totally snapped."

The rumors were flying throughout the school. Everybody had heard about the fight. And the only way Maya knew about it was from those rumors. It was her only means of hearing about what had happened, because she couldn't find her friends. Because Lucas wasn't answering his text messages.

She _needed _to know what was going. She had to know the truth, and it was extremely important to her that she learned what that was. Because Lucas had promised her that he wasn't going to do anything stupid. He had said he was just going to talk to her. He'd told her that he'd see her later.

"Kelly!" Maya raced through the hallway after school, pushing through the crowds to get to the senior hallway.

"You want to go see Lucas, don't you?" Kelly sighed, not even bothering to turn away from her locker.

"Are you going to kill me if I skip practice?" Maya asked nervously.

"Go see your boyfriend," Kelly laughed, turning around and giving Maya a quick hug. "We both know that nobody's going to be paying attention at practice today anyways-they're all going to be talking about the fight anyways," She rolled her eyes, giving the younger girl a slight shove towards the door.

"Thanks, Kelly-you're the best," Maya grinned, turning around and racing out of the school and towards Lucas's house.

* * *

><p>Lucas was sitting in his room, lying back on his bed with an icepack over his right eye. He had a sling on his left arm, and he was sure his nose was swollen-he'd been certain it had gotten broken before he'd arrived at the hospital. He could barely talk from the fat lip he'd been given and he was covered in bruises. Every single part of him hurt and he'd only just gotten home from his trip to the emergency room, having just finished hearing a lecture from his mother about fighting, before she'd hurried off to make him organic herbal tea and some chicken noodle soup in an effort to make him feel better.<p>

"What the hell happened?"

He groaned, not even bothering to turn his head. He already knew exactly who it was. He'd known that Maya was going to show up sooner or later, full of questions about what had happened. What surprised him was the fact that she had waited so long to get there.

"What the hell were-oh my god," She gasped, dropping down onto her knees besides his bed.

He adjusted his body slightly, reaching out to grab her hand. He tugged on her arm, pulling her closer to him and up onto the bed besides him, his good arm wrapped around her tightly.

"Are you okay?" She whispered, snuggling up into him.

"Of course I'm okay," He smiled at her. "You should see Troy," He assured her.

He actually had no idea what had happened to Troy. He wasn't sure how bad the other boy looked or what damage he had caused. But he could see the smile start to spread across Maya's face, and he knew that his little lie was worth it.

"Why'd you do it?" She asked softly.

"Because he kissed you, and it made me mad. And sometimes I get angry and I can't help myself….he just seemed so smug. I really was going to just talk to him, but then he started going on about you and how he could take you from me without it taking an effort and I just…well, I guess I just lost control," He sighed, kissing the top of her head.

"He's never going to take me from you, Lucas," Maya promised. "I love you, remember?" She reached up and planted a kiss on his lips.

He smiled into it, using his good arm to move her to top of him, adjusting his slung so that she wouldn't be on it. He knocked the icepack off of his face and continued to kiss her, his smile widening as she depended the kiss.

And then he was wincing, pulling back from her on instinct.

"What's wrong?" She giggled.

"My nose…it sort of kills," He admitted sheepishly.

"I'm sorry," Maya frowned, rolling off of him and cuddling back up against him.

"_Never _apologize for kissing me," Lucas told her. "Because that's the best part of every single day," He assured her.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe Lucas got into a fight over Maya," Riley ranted, pacing around her bedroom floor.<p>

"Troy made a move on her and he said some nasty things about their relationship. I can't blame him. If I was Lucas's size and a guy was talking like that about you, I'd punch him," Farkle shrugged, working on his math homework on the window seat.

"But, Farkle-this is _Lucas _we're talking about. He's always calm, cool and collected. The closest he ever came to getting into a fight before was with Billy when he said something negative about you, and that was only because Maya made him feel like crap about _not _wanting to resort to violence," Riley pointed out, rolling her eyes at Farkle's remark.

"Riley, what's bothering you the most about this? The fact that Lucas got in trouble for getting into a fight, or the fact that he got into the fight because of Maya?" Farkle sighed.

"Why would you even _say _something like that?" Riley whirled around, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at Farkle.

"Well…"

"Just because Lucas never wanted to get into a fight over-and it's not that he didn't-there was never an opportunity for him-_god, _I can't believe you would even _say _that. That was just…I can't even think of anything to actually say to you about that. I'm not even going to dignify it with a response," She replied, turning on her heel and storming out of her room.

Farkle sat there in confusion, furrowing his eyebrows together. Before long, Riley came storming back in.

"This is my room. _You _should be leaving," She declared.

"Riley, come on-let's just-"

"Farkle," Riley cut him off sharply. "I don't want to talk to you right now, okay? Just get out," She shook her head.

He sighed, gathering his things together and crawling through the window, heading down the fire escape.

Meanwhile, Riley sat on her window seat, curled up into a ball, trying to figure out what was going on.

The reason she had gotten so angry with Farkle was because he'd had a point. Riley _was _slightly hurt that Lucas had never once jumped at the opportunity to defend her honor. She knew that the opportunity hadn't occurred for him, but it still hurt. And it hurt because she knew, deep down, that even if the opportunity had presented itself to him, Lucas wouldn't have done the same thing for her as he had for Maya.

It all stemmed back to the inferior feeling she would always have when it came to her own relationship against Maya and Lucas's relationship. There would always be some sort of jealousy there, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

She had known, from the beginning that he was going to end up picking Maya. But every now and then, he'd do something to make her believe that there was hope for them to be together.

Like after their elections in the seventh grade, when Lucas had brought the horse in and told her that, to him, she was a princess. Or when her father had taken away their cellphones and he had sat there, talking to her and telling her things that he hadn't told anybody else.

But there was always the reminder that, in the end, he was always going to go back to Maya. After all, it was the blonde who knew the names of his friends in Texas. It was the blonde who had come up with the idea and contacted the Southern boys.

_Maya _was the first one to have been invited to his house. His mother adored Maya and was always sending Lucas with some delicious baked good for the girl. She talked about her countlessly and greeted her with a hug no matter what was going on.

And the reason behind all of Maya's little cowboy jokes? She had already known about the horses and his dream job, long before he'd told Riley about it. She'd turned it into a game, one that he had willingly played right along with her. He refused to let it bother her, because doing that would result in an end to their game. And Maya's teasing brought a smile to his face that nothing else could rival.

Riley had always _hated _that. But she'd figured it was a small price to pay, when she was the one dating him. Now she had nothing to go on.

Maya and Lucas were still the best of friends. They still played their pointless game. He still told her everything and she still trusted him more than anybody else. He would still do anything to protect her. And now Maya was the one who got to walk down the hallways holding his hand. Maya received his kisses, and it was Maya who got to race into his arms and hug him as tightly as she wanted to whenever she saw him.

It was wrong of Riley to resent that. She knew that Maya deserved whatever happiness she could get. And she really did want to be happy for her best friend. But it was just so hard to be happy, even when she was with Farkle, who she cared for far more than she had cared for Lucas, when she was constantly forced to remember that she would always come in second place to Maya, her own best friend.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: So, let's just say, I officially hated Girl Meets Friendship JUST because of the ending. Everything else about the episode was good and wasn't too awful with my least favorite couple. But the end? Ugh, I just couldn't bare it. Also, I'm going to be going away next week so I'm probably not going to get a chance to update. When I come home I'm sure I'll have a few chapters to put up all at once, but I'm not going to actually be able to post them while I'm gone, because I'm going to be constantly doing things and running around on errands like getting my prom dress and taking some college tours. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter. It was a little tricky to write. _**


	8. Best Friends for Never

Maya would have given anything not to be in school that Tuesday. Lucas was suspended. Troy was suspended. Everybody at school was going to be talking about the fight, and they would all know that the only person with any sort of information on the _true _story would be Maya. And she _really _didn't want to have to deal with it.

She hated the attention that it would bring. She didn't like being the center of attention, but she knew that the story of the fight was going to shove her right into the spotlight, no questions asked.

Pulling Lucas's old flannel tighter around her torso, covering up the white camisole she had on beneath it, she finally entered the crowded hallways. She kept her head low, trying to avoid catching anybody's eye. If she avoided eye contact, she could prolong the questions. Maybe she'd get lucky and nobody would notice her.

"Maya? You okay?"

She jumped at the voice besides her, cringing at the arm that wrapped around her shoulders protectively. She glanced up, turning her attention towards the newcomer, surprised-yet grateful-to find Farkle standing there.

"I'm fine-I mean, nobody's said anything to me yet," She shrugged, flashing him a grateful smile.

"Yeah, I may have called Kelly and Mackenzie last night and told them to make sure nobody bothered you about everything that happened," Farkle said sheepishly, removing his arm from her shoulders and reaching back to nervously scratch at his neck.

"_You _called the two most popular senior girls in this school? And you asked for a _favor? _And they actually _did _it? What did you offer them?" Maya threw her head back laughing, blonde hair tumbling down her back.

"Hey, are you seriously doubting the ability of," He paused dramatically, giving her a hard stare. "The Farkle?" he asked, flipping his hair.

And then they were both laughing, Maya falling against her locker and Farkle leaning up against the one besides her, tossing his head back to laugh right along with her. He was grateful that his attempt to cheer her up had worked. And she was ecstatic not to have to answer to anybody else, and that she had a friend who cared about her happiness so much.

Farkle might be absolutely insane, and he might still hope to take over the world someday. But he was sweet, and he had always been sweet, and he would always be sweet. That much would never change about him.

After all, he was the type of guy who would drop out of a student council campaign because his friends were more important, even when he had an entire Farkle Nation backing him up. He was the type of guy who would get upset over the fact that he wasn't winning a competition the right way. And he was the type of guy who would be torn between two equally beautiful girls, yet not even realize that they were beautiful, but he was interested in them for their personalities.

That was the type of guy Farkle was, and Maya would always love him for that. He was one of her best friends. He didn't give her the same sense of security that Lucas did, and he didn't have the same bond with her that Riley did. But they had their own special means of friendship, and that was all that they needed.

He protected her. He kept her safe. He was always sweet to her, doing his best to make her smile and keep her happy. When he'd discovered her talent-realizing that she could draw-he'd been the one to decide they should all take art class together and been incredibly disappointed when he couldn't fit the elective in his schedule. He was the one always asking her about her drawings, encouraging her to keep it up-because she was going to be something special.

When his dad had been funding a new art museum, Farkle had forced him to look at Maya's work, and even Minkus had been impressed with the blonde haired beauty's work. He'd taken to showing up at all of the school's art shows and buying at least one piece by Maya to keep around the house-and that much hadn't even been Farkle's own idea. He just thought that she was _that _good.

"Farkle," Maya said as her laughter died down. "You know, you really are my best friend, and I really do love you," She smiled at him, turning around to open her locker.

"I love you, too, Maya-but you already knew that," He smirked.

"Of course I did," Maya giggled. "After all, how could you ever choose between Angel's food cake and Devil's food cake?" She cocked an eyebrow, glancing at him over her shoulder.

"You know, that one wasn't even really about it two. I was just hungry!" Farkle complained.

"It fit better than the other one you'd given us that day," Maya snorted, turning her attention back to her locker.

"Not everything is about you and Riley, you know," Farkle said, and she was sure he was sticking his tongue out at her. "Sometimes I just need to eat my food and not be torn between the two of you," he responded.

"Farkle," Maya sighed, slamming her locker shut and turning to face him. "We all know that _everything _you did in the seventh grade stemmed back to Riley and me," She shrugged.

"That is so-"

"Why'd you lock yourself in Janitor Harley's office? Somebody told you that Riley and I were too good for you. Why'd you immediately befriend Lucas? Because he was important to Riley. Why'd you-"

"You're wrong about Lucas," Farkle cut her off.

"What?"

"You're wrong about Lucas. I didn't befriend him so quickly because he was important to Riley. I wanted to be his friend and accept him in our group because he was important to _you. _I saw the way you made you smile. _I _never made you smile like that. Hell, even Riley couldn't get that reaction out of you. And I guess that's sort of what made my decision about Riley. When it came to you, it would always be Lucas," Farkle explained.

And the sad part was, he was right.

But then again, when wasn't Farkle right?  
><strong>)(*&amp;^%$%^&amp;*(*&amp;^%$#^&amp;*(*&amp;^%$#%^&amp;*(*&amp;^%$#$%^&amp;*(&amp;^%$#$%^&amp;*(<strong>

Riley didn't like the constant jealousy she felt towards Maya. It killed her and it made her feel miserable about herself. She felt like a horrible friend. She was pretty sure that it was the very definition of what a bad friend was and did.

Yet she couldn't help but be jealous. It seemed like everybody in her life picked Maya over her. Everybody would always prefer Maya. She would always come first, because she was _Maya. _People pitied her, sure-that was probably some of why everybody seemed to love her-but she also just radiated cheerfulness and happiness. She drew people in and made it impossible for somebody to hate her.

Even when something really shouldn't be a competition, Riley couldn't help but turn it into a contest between the girls. After all, it shouldn't be a contest when it came to the art teachers always preferring Maya. The girl was incredibly gifted at anything related to art. It just made sense that they would praise her for it.

And nobody would ever question Lucas's bond with Maya. They came from similar situations and they just always seemed comfortable with one another. Even if nobody had ever thought they'd end up dating, everybody knew that they were best friends and that they were special to one another. It was foolish of Riley to ever think she could really mean more to Lucas than his best, closest friend would mean to him. After all, she would never love anybody or care for anybody more than she did for Maya. That wasn't how it worked.

She knew, without a doubt in her head, that Farkle loved her. She was absolutely confident that, for once, she had found a boy who actually loved her and would always pick her. Yet it had still killed her that Farkle had raced through the halls today to find Maya between every class, assuring that she was okay. She had hated his desire to talk to the cheerleading seniors to work to protect Maya from the gossip. And she really hated the way Maya and Farkle were laughing so hard at something she didn't know.

Not that they were trying to exclude her. She was doing a fine job of that all on her own. If she walked over there, they'd welcome her with open arms. They'd fill her right in and she'd be laughing right along with them.

But, she didn't _want _that. She wanted Maya to be the one to come and join _her _group for a change. She wanted _Maya _to feel like an outsider among her own group of friends. For just once in their lives, she wanted _Maya _to be the one who wondered if they really liked her, or if they just kept her around because of other people in the group wanting her there. Because they pitied her. Because they were too nice to send her away.

It was bitter and it was mean. It was absolutely horrid to think such things about her best friend. But Riley couldn't _help _it. She hated it and she wished that she could control those feelings, but she just couldn't do it.

All she could do was feel bitter and resentful. She was a horrible friend. She knew it. But what was she supposed to do? Act as though she felt differently than she really did?

She tried. She really did try. And she was happy that Maya had finally found happiness. She was glad that she had a boyfriend sweet enough to worry about the feelings of his friends so strongly. And she thought that Lucas was the best thing that had ever happened to Maya.

Yet she still felt jealous of Maya's newfound happiness, and she really couldn't explain any reason, besides the fact that Riley felt as though she were no longer the center.

No longer was she the glue that held their circle of friends together. She wasn't Maya's entire world anymore. She wasn't the reason for Lucas's smile-and she was pretty sure she never had been. And she wasn't the number one girl in Farkle's eyes, no matter how much he loved her.

He felt a need to protect Maya, to make up for all of the times that she had protected him when they were younger. He felt guilty about that.

His love for Riley and Maya was equal-just in different ways. He loved Riley the way one should love their girlfriend. He thought of her as a princess and he'd do absolutely anything for her. But Maya was his sister-his best friend. He'd do anything to protect her, because he felt like he owed her that much.

All Farkle really wanted was to prove that he could be Maya's hero. He didn't want to be the weak, loser, boy genius with a desire to take over the world, depending on his friends to protect him and keep him safe from others. He wanted to prove to everybody that he deserved Maya's friendship, because no matter what happened, a part of him would always believe what Billy had said all those years ago about how he'd never deserve friends like the girls.

"Riley!" Maya laughed, giggling at her best friend's name as she wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders, falling against her in a fit of hysterics. "Where have you been all day? I missed you, girl," She giggled.

Sometimes, though, Maya's friendship and her ignorance to Riley's true feelings of jealousy was more than enough to bring a smile to Riley's face and remind her that the two girls really were the best of friends. That nothing could break their mind.

"I know, Maya-I know," Riley laughed, squirming her way around her friend's tight grasp so that she could hug her back. "But you know I'm always here for you," She smiled, tousling the blonde curls that her best friend had always been so proud of, the golden halo that surrounded Maya and made it clear to everybody that she was an angel.

Yes, sometimes it was hard to focus on the negative parts of their friendship and truly be jealous of one another.

This was one of those times.

**(*&^%$# $%^&*(*&^%$# $%^&*(&^%**

Lucas was bored out of his mind.

His mother was mad at him for having gotten into a fight. She was disappointed that he had started it. But she also felt horrible that he had gotten hurt. She was proud that he had only gotten into the fight because he was defending Maya.

So, he wasn't being punished. He hadn't gotten anything taken away from him and he wasn't grounded. But, he had been suspended from school, leaving him to sit at home all day until Maya got out of practice and could show up at his house with his homework. He had to find something to fill up his day, while he waited for Maya to get there.

And when she did show up?

He had to deal with his mother constantly checking in on them to make sure that he was healthy and okay, not suffering from any sort of pain. Which meant that he and Maya had to stay separated-which was technically a punishment, and if his mother was a crueler person, he would think she was doing it on purpose just to make him suffer.

He could only play videos games for so long because they got boring. He could only read for so long before he ran out of books. And movies got boring and a little repetitive after a while. So, he sat there stuck in his own thoughts most of the day.

And it had only been one full day.

This was going to make for one very long week, because he could barely get through a couple of hours without his friends. He could barely make it through one school day without seeing Maya and immediately being able to know how she was.

He wasn't exactly sure how much of this he could actually take, but he figured that he deserved it for letting his anger get the best of him. He shouldn't have been so quick to turn around and attack Troy. The other boy had been trying to provoke him, after all. He'd told him straight out that he _wanted _Lucas to hit him, to see if Maya would still want him when he'd tainted his Mr-Perfect reputation.

Which was his biggest fear, if he was being honest.

Lucas would never admit it, but he was terrified of Maya turning her back on him because he wasn't perfect. He was afraid that she wanted him because his nice-guy exterior made her feel better about her own life and her own rebel-don't-care reputation.

It was foolish. It was stupid-a completely irrational fear, if he was being honest. He shouldn't even be thinking things like that, but he thought them-and either Troy was really good at reading people, or he assumed the same things.

Of course, what Troy didn't seem to want to admit was that the only reason Maya would ever have for liking him was because they came from similar home lives-a deadbeat parent who couldn't be bothered with their kid. One who had started their entire life over with a new family. Of course, Lucas could relate to that as well, and Maya knew that.

The only thing that separated him from Troy was the fact that Troy's reputation matched Maya's. He was the bad boy to her bad girl. He was the player to her wild, party girl exterior. They were alike-similar-coming from the same mold.

So, people might assume that Troy and Maya _would _be perfect together. Lucas sort of hated those people.

There was another type of person, though-the one who thought that opposites attracted. The type of person who believed that Lucas and Maya were so different they brought out the best in one another. That, while similar with what really mattered, their differences were the things that made them such a good couple. Lucas really liked those people.

Because he and Maya were meant for one another. That was the only way to explain it. They were just supposed to be together and nothing could tear them apart. People who didn't see that just didn't understand what it was like to really be in love.

They didn't understand what it was like to feel something as strongly as Lucas felt for Maya. It only made sense that they'd want to tear their happiness apart. They were probably jealous that Lucas had found Maya so easily and that everything had worked out for them so smoothly.

Not that Lucas could blame them for being jealous of his relationship with Maya. He was pretty sure that _everybody _was jealous of the fact that he was dating Maya.

After all, she was gorgeous-nobody could look at her and describe her with any other word. She was beautiful, and that was all there was to it. And she was easily the hottest girl in the grade. Her body could break necks as guys tried to check her out.

But, forgetting about her appearance, she was also sweet and hard to understand. Her complications made her mysterious and that made her sexy. She was the nicest, most loyal person that Lucas had ever met. She was talented, she was popular-and she was made to be even cooler, because she didn't seem to know or care just how popular she was.

Any guy would be lucky to have her, and Lucas was the one who had won her over. He was living the dream. He was a hero among other junior boys. He had the entire world in the palm of his hand.

He was loving every second of it, too.

It wasn't just because of the ego-boost that being with Maya gave him, either. It was the confidence that she filled him up with, whenever she looked at him with those adoring blue eyes. It was the way her smile made him feel like he was a complete softy, willing to do anything to get that look back on her face and keep it there forever.

Everything about Maya assured him that they were perfect together. That she was perfect for him and he was perfect for her. He took in each of her flaws as though they were just additional aspects to make her completely and totally perfect. And she looked at him as if nobody could be closer to her definition of perfect. She didn't even seem to notice his faults.

Which actually made him feel stupid about the fact that he'd fallen into Troy's trap. He should have been smarter than that. He should have had enough trust in his relationship-enough trust in _Maya-_to know that nothing could tear them apart.

But, when things are going so perfectly, it was easy to think about them getting taken away. It was horrible to focus on such things and it broke Lucas's heart, but it was very easy for Lucas to think of at least ten scenarios on any given day that focused on the two of them breaking up and losing everything.

So, the fight made sense, in a twisted kind of way.

And in an equally twisted kind of way, it didn't make any sense at all.

Still, he had thrown that first punch and he'd talked Troy to the ground. He'd yelled and screamed and thrown punch after punch. So, there was no denying that the fight had happened. And there was no way to really change that. They just had to move on from there.

**(**&^%$# $%^&*(*&^%$# #$%^&***

Maya yanked her hair out of her ponytail, giving the blonde curls a quick shake as she sprinted out of practice. Her bag bounced against her legs, the straps twisting and tangling, threatening to trip her.

She had to get to Lucas's fast. Not for an serious reason-not for any reason other than the fact that she missed him. She hadn't seen him since she'd left his house yesterday afternoon, and that was far too long to go without seeing him, when she was used to seeing him every single day-every second of every minute of every hour of every day. She wasn't used to going without him for long stretched of time. She hadn't had to do that _before _they were dating, after all.

Eagerly, she scanned the parking lot, trying to spot Farkle's car-he was giving her a ride to Lucas, and he wanted to see his friend as well. Maya sort of hated that she needed to bring Farkle along with her, because she wanted alone time with Lucas, but she understood that even without Farkle around, they wouldn't truly be alone.

Lucas's mother might love Maya and trust her more than anything, but she couldn't get over her maternal instincts to check on Lucas at all times-especially when he was hurt or sick. Besides, no mother would knowingly trust her teenage son alone in his bedroom for hours at a time with the door shut with his girlfriend.

Especially since Lucas's mother knew exactly how Lucas had felt about Maya. She'd known before Lucas was willing to admit it to himself and she'd known before Maya had wanted to believe it could be possible. She'd been hoping that they'd end up together for longer than either of them had wanted it.

That still didn't mean she could stand by and just allow them to fool around in Lucas's bedroom without any sort of parental control or supervision. So, she made Lucas keep the door open and she checked in sporadically throughout Maya's visit.

So, having Farkle there would diffuse any of the tensions the teenagers might feel that Lucas's mother would be on the pry about. In a way, having Farkle there was a brilliant plan-one that Maya was incredibly proud of herself for coming up with, even if she knew that Lucas was probably going to hate the idea and pout about it.

Finally, she found her friend's car and hurried over to it, slipping into the passenger's seat, tossing her bag into the backseat.

"OW!"

"What the fuck?" Maya blurted out, turning around in her seat, in the middle of pulling on her seat belt.

Sitting in the back was Riley, Maya's bag on her lap. She shoved it aside roughly and reached up to fix her long, dark locks, keeping a hardened glare on Maya.

"What are you doing here? I didn't even see you!" Maya protested, turning back towards Farkle. "What's she doing here?" She asked.

"Clearly you didn't see me," Riley muttered. "And I thought we were all going to go see Lucas and bring him his homework. I didn't know it was something private between you and Farkle," She replied.

"What are you _talking _about?" Maya asked, eyes growing wide. "Private between me and _Farkle? _He's your boyfriend, Riley. What do-"

"Oh, because _that__'__s _stopped you before?" Riley cut her off.

"Lucas broke up with you before we started dating! And I didn't _know _he was going to break up with you or that he felt any certain way about me! And the only reason we got together was because you were acting like you were all for it. I never would have said yes otherwise," Maya crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"You're still with him," Riley said.

"Riley, are you seriously mad at Maya about her and Lucas? You and I started dating before Lucas even said anything to Maya about it. And Maya's the one who tried to make a pact that none of us date each other. If she wanted Lucas, why would she have done that?" Farkle asked, glancing at Riley through the rearview mirror.

"Of course you're taking her side. Everybody takes Maya's side. Everybody always feels bad for Maya and has to walk on egg shells about her feelings. Nobody ever cares about me or how I feel," Riley said bitterly.

"You're not even being fair right now," Farkle sighed, shaking his head. He wouldn't even look at her, instead focusing straight ahead on the road. "I can't believe you'd even say anything like that. I don't know what's going on with you right now, but I'm not all that crazy about this side of you," He told her.

"Everybody _pities _me? They feel _bad _for me? Is _that _what you think? That I'm just some charity case so everybody can pat themselves on the back afterwards and feel good about themselves?" Maya whirled around, glaring at Riley.

"Why else do you think everybody pampers you all the time?" Riley shrugged.

"_Pampers _me? What are you even talking about? Nobody gives me any sort of special privileges just because my dad's a deadbeat who didn't think I was worth his time. Nobody does anything to make sure I'm well taken care of just because my mother's always working." Maya insisted, her voice raising with every word.

"Shawn likes you more than he likes me, and I'm his god daughter. Lucas picked you over me. Even Farkle protects you," Riley pointed out. "The seniors all love you, and the art teachers kiss the ground you walk on," She added on.

"Shawn's my _father._ He's my god damn step-dad. Are you seriously even going to try to throw him into this mess? And Lucas and I are in _love, _Riley. Of course he was going to pick me over anybody else, whether that girl was you or Missy or…._anybody. _And Farkle protects me because I've always protected him, and I'm dating his best fucking friend," Maya snapped.

She was angry-angrier than she had ever been at Riley before. She couldn't even believe that they were fighting about something like that. She was shocked that Riley was saying such horrible things to her and she couldn't believe that her best friend had felt that way for so long about her.

"And the only seniors who love me are the cheerleaders, because I'm on the team with them. They're my friends. _You__'__re _the one who quit the team and stopped cheering. They didn't cut you," Maya reminded her. "And as for the art teachers? I'm an amazing fucking artist so do yourself a favor and stop trying to take my talent away from me just because you don't have one!" Maya shot out.

A part of her regretted it.

She couldn't believe that she had said that to her best friend, despite the horrid, nasty things her best friend was saying to her. She was preying on Riley's feelings. She knew how Riley got when it came to her feelings of jealousy of Maya's artistic abilities and the fact that she didn't have a talent of her own.

But, at the same time, she figured that Riley deserved it. She was being cruel. She was saying things just to get a reaction out of Maya. She wanted Maya to get angry with her, and she was saying all the right things.

Riley wasn't capable of getting angry at Maya and saying nasty, hurtful things to her if Maya wasn't going to say them right back. It wasn't the type of girl she was. She felt guilty easily. She was far too nice. And she hated to see anybody upset.

If Maya was angry? Then the blonde would shoot insults right back at the brunette, and it would all be fair. Riley's easy little world would all make sense and she could continue to be angry with Maya for as long as she wished, knowing that Maya would eventually be the one to come and apologize, leaving Riley to act like the perfect little girl, who could never do anything wrong. Riley would accept Maya's apology and then apologize as well, while making it seems as though she really didn't have anything to do with the fight.

Well, that wasn't going to happen that time.

Maya wouldn't allow it to happen again. She was no longer going to play Riley's little games. She wouldn't follow the brunette's rules.

Just because Riley thought she was perfect-that she was quirky in the most adorable way and absolutely brilliant-didn't mean that she was right about it. After all, Riley was right-Shawn did love Maya more than he had ever loved Riley. Lucas was always going to put Maya first. Farkle and Maya had a bound that nothing could compare with. The cheerleaders-the popular seniors-treated Maya like a little sister-the type they actually wanted to hang out with. And the art teachers did think Maya was God's gift from above.

Maya had talent. She had beauty. She had brains. She had friends-true friends, that were loyal to her and that she was protective of. She didn't have to sit around and act as though she were second fiddle to Riley. She didn't even know why she had allowed that to be her life for so long.

"Riley, I think I'm going to bring you home now," Farkle sighed.

"Oh, really? And you and Maya are going to run off and-"

"_Riley!__" _Farkle snapped. "Shut up. I'm not going to sit here and deal with this anymore."

"You know what-get me out of here," Riley said. "Pull over. I'll walk home. I'm not going to deal with everybody acting as though Maya's the victim," Riley snapped.

And sure enough, Farkle pulled over and allowed Riley to get out of the car.

"I'm sorry," Farkle apologized to Maya.

"It's fine," Maya insisted, leaning back in her seat with a small smirk on her face.

After all-it wasn't Riley's world, anymore. It was Maya's world, and she was ready to go out and face it head on.


	9. Face From The Past

**Sugar We're Going Down Swinging  
>A Girl Meets World Fanfiction Series<br>Chapter 9: A Face From the Past**

Riley didn't want to be mad at Maya.

She hated fighting with her best friend. And while she did feel those strong senses of jealousy in regards to her best friend, she couldn't help but feel guilty over voicing them. Especially when she had voiced them so openly.

The real reason she had gotten so upset in the car had not been because she was upset that Lucas had broken up with her and was currently with Maya. It was not because of Farkle's obsession with protecting Maya at school that entire day. And it didn't have anything to do with Shawn preferring Maya to Riley. She didn't even care about the talent that Maya had that she lacked herself.

Her anger all came from her fear of losing Maya.

After all, her best friend had been shocked and almost annoyed by her presence in Farkle's car that afternoon. She was constantly spending all of her time with Lucas and running out on her plans with Riley to cuddle up with Lucas all night long. She ate lunch with him each day, focusing only on the things he said, and she rushed around school to walk with him between classes.

Maya really was a great friend. She was as good of a friend to Riley as Shawn had always been to Cory-sometimes Riley heard Shawn wonder if Maya was an even _better _friend than he had been. She would drop anything at a second's notice if she thought that Riley really needed her. She'd do anything for Riley, including giving her the shirt right off of her back. And she actually _had _done that before.

The problem with having a friend as incredible as Maya was that Riley had gotten used to depending on her. She had become accustomed to Maya always being around, sometimes so often that Riley got sick of her.

For years, Maya had eaten dinner with Riley and her family on the Holidays. She came on family vacations with them and Cory always brought Maya with them on Father's Day, up until Shawn became her step-father.

Riley didn't want to lose that. She was starting to understand what Shawn had felt when he'd fled New York City all those years ago. Maya's life was moving on, and Riley's wasn't moving as quickly. She wasn't even sure that it was heading in the same direction.

Still, nobody knew Maya better than Riley did. They could read one another's minds, after all. And if there was one thing that Riley understood about Maya, it was that she had always had a crush on Joshua Matthews. She would _always _have a crush on Joshua Matthews. And Joshua had always had a crush on Maya. He would _always _have a crush on Maya.

He was her first crush. Even before Lucas. He was the truly unattainable guy. Maya liked him, but she could never have him. It would be far too awkward for her to ever date Riley's uncle, after all.

Joshua, meanwhile, thought that they could make it work. He'd had other girlfriends throughout his life but nothing had ever been serious. In conversations he'd had with Cory-conversations he feared Shawn ever hearing about-he referred to Maya as his own Topanga. The girl he'd known since he was in elementary school and had loved from the second he'd met her. He assumed that they would work out in the end.

And the main thing that kept Maya interested in Joshua was the fact that she wanted, more than anything in the world, to truly be a part of the Matthews' clan. When Shawn had entered her life, she'd gotten a bigger acceptance into the family. And her desire had died down a little bit.

Throughout the years, her crush had faded and she didn't make it so obvious that she was crazy about Joshua. A lot of that probably had to do with Lucas and her growing feelings for him. He had merely become one of her best friends, and Riley knew they were in constant communication with one another. Maya told him everything, and he told her everything. They actually were like their own version of Cory and Topanga, and Riley had always kind of hoped they wouldn't end up together because she was envious that her best friend would get the relationship her parents had had.

But now she was curious as to how everything would have been different, if she _hadn__'__t _pushed so hard on Maya's rejection of Joshua's feelings. It was clear, after all, that Joshua wasn't the one pulling away.

He had decided to attend NYU because it was close to Maya. He tried to cover it up with countless excuses, but Riley knew the truth. He'd admitted it to Maya one night when he was visiting Cory, and Riley had overheard the conversation.

Riley knew, the way Shawn had always been able to tell how Cory felt about Topanga, that Maya still liked Joshua. She developed a tiny little smirk whenever he would text her. She'd sneak away to answer his phone calls. When they were together her cheeks were tinted with a permanent blush. She nervously played with her hair whenever he was around. And when he hugged her, her eyes lit up.

It was the same way she acted with Lucas, actually. Her feelings for both boys were probably around the same level of intensity, Riley was sure. But she was confident that Maya would pick Joshua, if she ever thought he was really an option.

And that was her new plan. To make sure that she knew it was an option.

"Uncle Josh?" Riley asked as soon as the phone stopped ringing.

"Hey, Riles-what's up?" The college freshman asked with an easy going smile.

"Maya's got a new boyfriend," Riley said.

"Please tell me it isn't Troy," Joshua groaned.

Josh was Troy's uncle as well, but Joshua didn't have the same relationship with him as he did with Riley and Auggie. He thought Troy was annoying-a troublemaker who just wanted attention. He considered him to be nothing but trouble and absolutely no good.

While Joshua's biggest ambition was to be as cool as Shawn, he did so in the same naturally-cool way that people like Shawn and Maya could get away with. He had good looks, he didn't put too much effort into school, and he had a charming personality.

Troy wanted to be just like his uncle Joshua, but he lacked the natural born ability to do so, which was surprising, as Eric was his father and Erica had had the ability to be naturally cool, with his few quirks.

In all honesty, Troy was probably every bit as annoying and awkward as Cory was, but he put on an act to make him seem like some rough-around-the-edges bad boy. He broke the rules, going out of his way to cause trouble, and he threatened anybody who he thought he could take in a fight.

Any ounce of coolness that he had was comparable to the kind that Harley Keiner or Griffin Hawkens had been back in Cory's days at school. He was a bully. He was a loner. He was isolated. He was a jerk.

His feelings for Maya stemmed from his desire to be just like Joshua-and his passion to be _better _than his uncle. Troy didn't actually have feelings for Maya, other than a connection he'd developed after realizing she had been abandoned by a parent as well. He didn't view her as being special-somebody to cherish. He didn't even think that he wasn't good enough for Maya, the way that amazing guys like Lucas and Joshua felt.

And Maya only felt anything towards Troy because of their similar family backgrounds, his bad-boy exterior that had always intrigued her, and the fact that he was a ticket into the Matthews family that would actually be attainable.

"No, of course not. Although this guy did get into a fight with Troy the other day over her," Riley explained. "Anyways, I need you to hurt up and come visit and do something about this, because she's not the same Maya anymore," Riley ranted on.

"You want me to come and try to break up Maya's new relationship? Who's the guy? He beat up Troy-how awful can he be for her?" Joshua asked.

"It's Lucas," Riley said flatly.

"As in your ex-boyfriend Lucas? How'd that happen?" Joshua asked.

"Can you just come and help me get my best friend back?"

"Is this because you're worried about Maya and afraid of losing her as a friend, or because you're jealous that Lucas picked her over you?"

"Joshua, just help me out here, okay?"

"Listen, because it's Maya and I really can't stand the thought of seeing her with anybody else, I'm going to come into town this weekend and pay you guys a visit. I have a long weekend anyways so I'll be there late Thursday night. I just hope you're doing this for the right reasons," He sighed before hanging up.

And a part of Riley hoped the same thing as him.

* * *

><p>Maya always felt bad after a fight with Riley.<p>

It didn't matter if she was right in the situation or wrong. She was always the first to apologize and she always felt the worst afterwards. It was a problem-a serious problem that she really could't help.

But, not talking to her was the worst.

She needed somebody to call up and talk to about Lucas and how adorable he was. She needed to be able to gush over his sweetness and how much she liked him. And she needed to know how Riley was feeling. She couldn't stand not knowing what was going on in Riley's life.

So, she walked straight up to her best friend the next day at school and opened her arms straight up. The brunette opened her arms as well and as soon as the distance between the girls was at a minimal, they wrapped their arms around each other, burying their faces into one another's shoulders.

"I'm sorry that I rubbed Lucas in your face," Maya whispered.

"I'm sorry I got so jealous of you," Riley said.

"I'm sorry that I accused you of being a bad friend," Maya sniffled.

"I'm sorry that I said people feel bad for you," Riley apologized.

And just like that, everything was right between the girls. Just like that, they were the best of friends once again.

After all, they were the best friends on the entire planet, no matter what Shawn said about him and Cory being the best friends in all existence, including their crummy planet. Because nothing could beat Riley and Maya.

* * *

><p>Lucas didn't think that Maya's friendship with Riley was healthy.<p>

He had never really realized it before, but it all seemed to be a one way street. Maya was always the one jumping to defend Riley. Maya respected the borders and boundaries that Riley presented her with. Maya was the one who did anything to make Riley happy and Maya was the one who always seemed to care about Riley's feelings.

In contrast, Riley seemed like a horrible friend. In her efforts to improve Maya's life, she seemed to always be running around trying to change who Maya was. When Maya asked her not to get involved in something, Riley ignored that request and ran off, doing exactly what she'd been asked not to do. And never once did Riley seem to stop and think about Maya's feelings before acting to make herself happy.

Of course, Lucas was sure he was biased. He would always take Maya's side when it came to her conflicts with anybody else. He had always taken Maya's side and probably always would. It was what happened when you loved somebody.

So, when he heard that Maya and Riley had their little reunion, he couldn't help but be mildly disgusted with the scene described to him. He was sure that Maya had been the one to push for the end of their fight and he was sure that Riley had merely been responding to Maya's comments. And he was positive, from his knowledge of Riley's character, that she probably had some sort of plan that she was sure was for the good of their friendship that would save them from fighting again-while crushing either Maya, Lucas or Farkle in the process.

He just didn't trust her.

Not after Maya had shown up at his house last night in tears, with Farkle supporting her into the room. She was trembling so hard she could barely walk and she'd collapsed into his arms as soon as Farkle had let go of her.

When he had heard the horrible things Riley had said, he had been ready to run off and take care of the girl himself. Of course, Lucas was too much of a gentleman for that. He would never even yell at a girl, yet alone harm one. But, he was angry and he couldn't believe that anybody could say such hurtful things to somebody as sweet as Maya.

"Lucas, stop freaking out. She's happy. Let them be friends-it's what she wants." Farkle sighed.

"I just don't get how she could forgive her so-called best friend for saying such horrible things about her, directly to her face," Lucas sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"You just answered your own question," Farkle pointed out. "She's her best friend and she's always going to forgive her. And if Maya is willing to forgive her, then I'm going to forgive her," Farkle explained.

"I just don't understand any of this," Lucas shook his head.

"See, the thing is…you _should _understand it, because Topanga always understood it with Shawn and Cory. And if Riley is Cory and Maya is Shawn, and I'm Minkus, you're most definitely Topanga," Farkle smirked, reaching up and flicking his best friend on the back of the head.

"Are you kidding me?" Lucas laughed, playfully punching his best friend in the arm. "I'm _not _Topanga," he crossed his arms.

"You're Topanga," Farkle stuck his tongue out.

"Not if Maya's Shawn," Lucas countered.

"Eh, so there's a couple of glitches in my plan. Life would get kind of boring if everything was exactly the same, wouldn't it?" He shrugged.

"You do realize you just paired your dad up with Cory, right?" Lucas said blandly, shooting a pointed look at Farkle.

"Hey, the heart wants what the heart wants. Who am I to judge?" Farkle held up his hands in a sign of surrender and innocence.

"You know, you make it really hard to be mad at you, and even harder to stay stressed about about something," Lucas sighed.

"That's what I'm here for," Farkle grinned.

"And, I guess you're right. Of course, you're always right. I should probably be used to that by now, shouldn't I?" Lucas sighed.

"Yeah, you should," Farkle smirked.

* * *

><p>"Wanna come over after school?" Riley said brightly, hooking her arm through Maya's the next day as soon as she spotted her best friend.<p>

"I have practice, but I can come after that. I'll make Farkle bring Lucas his homework," Maya said brightly.

"You sure you don't mind missing the chance to see him?" Riley frowned.

"Of course not. We haven't had girl time in forever and I'm sure they'd love some guy time," Maya shook her head. "I'm gonna run by my house first and grab some clothes. Is it cool if I sleep over?" Maya asked her friend with a bright, cheerful smile on her face, showing her grateful she was that everything was back to normal.

"Of course-bring enough stuff for the weekend. You can stay all the way through," Riley offered.

"Sure!" Maya agreed.

Of course, Maya was purposefully going out of her way to spend time with Riley. She didn't want to completely ditch Lucas, but she and Riley had had a long talk about the true motives behind their fight the night before. And as soon as Maya had realized Riley's fears of being forgotten by her best friend as she moved on with her relationship, Maya had turned into the world's best friend.

She'd text Riley the entire time she was with Lucas the night before. Had rushed off to have dinner with Riley at their favorite Chinese restaurant. She'd walked Riley to every class at school the day before and so far that Thursday. She had called her as soon as she'd gotten home the night before and first thing in the morning.

It was a little bit of an overkill, but Maya refused to allow her best friend to say that she was ignoring her because of her boyfriend. Maya was not that type of a friend. She wasn't the type of girl to forget about her friendships because of her relationships.

Lucas was definitely important to her, but Riley would always be more important to her. Nobody could beat the relationship that the two girls had. Nobody should even try to top their friendship. They were closer than close. They understood each other and they did what made the other one happy.

When a friendship like that existed, it made change hard. It made it close to impossible to accept that one person may be maturing a little faster than the other. It caused a struggle as new people joined their group and relationships formed. Jealousy came easily and a fear of moving on and away from the friendship was constantly there, just beneath the surface.

So, Maya was sure Lucas would whine and pout over their lack of alone time over the wekend, but she really didn't care. She couldn't afford to lose Riley. Besides, Lucas was Riley's friend, too. There was no reason that the four friends couldn't all double date or hang out together. They'd done it for years before romantic feelings had gotten in the way, after all.

And, for all Maya knew, Mrs. Friar was going to refuse to allow Lucas to leave the house all weekend as punishment for the fight. He was suspended from school, after all. It would make sense if she wanted him kept inside working on the work that he had missed so that he didn't fall behind. And Maya wouldn't blame Lucas's mother for thinking that he didn't deserve to go out during the weekend when he had missed a week of school.

If Maya wanted to make plans and do something with her friends, she didn't have to clear it with Lucas. She was her own person and nothing was going to stop her from enjoying her high school years with her very best friend by her side.

She loved Lucas. She really did. But that didn't mean he had to become her entire world. If she wanted some girl time, she was allowed to have that time to herself.

Although, if that was the case, why was Maya felt feeling so guilty about the situation? Why did she feel like she was throwing Lucas under the bus and ditching her boyfriend for her best friend?

Was it possible that she couldn't fairly make both relationships work without one side feeling neglected compared to the other?

She really hoped that that wasn't the case.

* * *

><p>Maya had always had a habit of chasing after Riley as soon as she spotted Joshua Matthews, racing into his arms and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck in greeting, shouting out a happy "UNCLE JOSH". And he would always respond that same way to her-informing her that he was not her uncle, and she would just smile slyly, shaking her head as she informed him that that made it even better.<p>

As she'd gotten older and starteed to realize the effect that she had on guys, she started to play with it a little more. She'd twirl her hair and look at him from beneath her eyelashes. She'd bit down on her bottom lip and lower her voice, deepening the tone to a cool and seductive, sultry whisper. She's lean back on the arm of the couch behind her, arching her back just enough to make him take notice to her full chest.

And it had always worked. He'd taken the bait each time, eyeing her up and down and informing her that she had grown up gorgeous. Then, all of Maya's maturity would fade away and she would fall into a fit of giggles from the velvety voice giving her such sweet compliments.

Riley would just roll her eyes, muttering something about how Maya was never going to be her aunt and the entire scene was disgusting.

It was their thing. Like how Maya and Lucas constantly bantered about Lucas being a cowboy, Maya and Joshua would flirt nonstop. Maya tried to get to Lucas. She wanted to get under his skin and get a reaction out of him. And Lucas wanted to push Maya's buttons in just the right way that he could result in getting her to keep playing their little game. He put effort into it, and he worked hard to give her new material and hold his own without making it obvious.

Joshua and Maya, however, drove everybody around them insane. Sure, it killed Joshua to hold Maya close and receive those looks from her that were only meant to piss Riley off. And Maya hated never knowing if he meant those compliments or not. But, they were experts at hiding it. They were experts at having other people in their lives to ease the pain of knowing they could never be together. So, it bothered everybody else far more than it bothered them and they got to enjoy those reactions.

So, when Maya entered Riley's apartment Thursday afternoon after practice with her packed duffle bag for the weekend, she was shocked to spot Joshua Matthews standing by the counter talking to Riley, his back to Maya.

As soon as the door slammed shut, though, he turned around and a large smile took over his face as he raced towards Maya. She grinned right back, dropping her bag to the ground and meeting him halfway, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as he slipped his arms around her slender waist, lifting her right off of the ground and twirling her around.

"Uncle Josh!' She squealed excitedly.

"I'm not your uncle," He chuckled, lowering her back to the ground.

"Even better," She winked.

Once he set her back down, his eyes scanned her once, up and down. And then that same sly, teasing half grin formed across his lips.

"Well, Maya….you certainly grew up gorgeous," He observed.

She smirked right back, basking in the compliment.

"Maya? You forgot your phone in my-who's this?"

And just like that, Maya's perfect little world came crashing down around her as a sweet, velvety voice filled the room, the slightest southern drawl accenting every word. Lucas had entered the room, and she was forced to remember that she had a boyfriend. She had a boyfriend whom she loved, and who was _not _Joshua Matthews.

"Joshua Matthews, the guy Maya's probably gonna marry one day," Joshua said in his own deep, husky voice that always sounded irritably tired, as though he had just woken up. "And you are?" He was walking towards Lucas, that same confident smirk curving his lips and twinkle to his eyes.

"Lucas Friar-Maya's _boyfriend,__" _Lucas said, his eyes narrowing directly at the older boy as he reached out to shake his hand.

"Lil Maya's got herself a boyfriend?" Joshua smirked, giving Lucas a once over.

Maya could tell from the smirk on his face that he didn't see Lucas as competition, at all. He was still that cool, confident teenage boy who knew he could have Maya whenever he wanted her, when she was ready to go against Riley's complaints about them as a couple.

Lucas, meanwhile, had a harsh scowl stretched across his face and his eyes were narrowed into intense slits, glaring right at Joshua. It was a look that Maya rarely ever saw on his face. One that he had never had when it came to Riley.

It was the look he'd gotten on his face every time Brandon had talked to Maya since their seventh grade elections. It was the look he'd kept on his face the entire month that his best friends from Texas had spent in the city to visit him, where they had spent the entire time falling all over Maya. And it was the look that he had had every time he'd seen Troy Matthews since the boy had stepped onto the scene.

He was jealous. He was panicked. And he was worried. But, most of all, he was jealous. Irrationally jealous-only, was it irrational when the person he was jealous of was Joshua Matthews, who just so happened to be Maya's first crush, her first love, and her first kiss. Maybe Lucas did have a little bit of reason to worry, when Joshua had made up so many firsts for her?

Firsts that not even Riley knew. After all, Riley still didn't know how Farkle had managed to sneak by Maya on the fire escape that Christmas back in the seventh grade to find Shawn and Cory in Maya and Riley's usual spot, talking the way the girls usually did.

Maya still remembered that moment though, as though it had just happened yesterday.

* * *

><p><em><strong>FLASHBACK:<strong>  
><em>

"_What are you doing out here?" Joshua asked, looking down at her with a smirking expression on his face. _

_ "__What are you doing out here? That's a much better question to be asking," Maya responded, glancing up at him and meeting her smirk with one of her own. _

_ "__I asked you first, though, so mine takes precedent," He cocked an eyebrow, bending at his knees to become a little bit more at her level. Of course, since he was about a foot taller than her and was already on the step in front of her, he would always be taller than she was. _

_ "__I'm doing a favor for Riley. She wants Shawn and Cory to talk some things over," Maya shrugged. "What about you?" _

_ "__I was in Auggie's room playing with him and I saw you out of the window, so I thought I'm come check in on you, to make sure everything was okay," He answered. _

_ "__I'm fine," Maya grinned. _

_ "__No, you're not," he shook his head. _

_ "__What makes you say that?" She asked. _

_ "__Come here," He denied her of an answer, standing up to full height. _

_ She sighed, but allowed him to pull her to his feet. Then, she followed as he pulled her away from Riley__'s window, towards another window. _

_ "__You're sad, and I can't say I blame you. It's Christmas Eve and you're here with Riley's family instead of yours. Why's that?" He asked. _

_ "__My mom's more of a part-time sort of mom, and my dad ran off when I was little. He's got a new family now and he only checks in on me to see if I'm still the failure he left behind," Maya crossed her arms over her chest. _

_ She wasn__'t sure why she was telling him that. Riley knew because it was inevitable that she find out at some point. Lucas knew bits and pieces, as much as Maya would willingly tell him in their rare moments of being sweet and friendly towards one another. But nobody else ever heard anything from Maya willingly, so easily, without offering her anything else in return. She had never really been one to over share, after all. That wasn't the type of person that she prided herself in being. She'd rather be a mystery, full of secrets. _

_ "__Your dad's an idiot, then. There's no way he could have a new kid as amazing as you. How many other girls would sit outside their best friend's window in the cold to make two fully grown men talk in a window like two teenage girls? How many other girls have a best friend like Riley, if they're such a failure? He's probably just mad at himself that he gave up a chance at raising such an incredible young woman," Joshua rolled his eyes. _

_ "__It's not that cold," Maya snorted, lowering her head so he wouldn't see her blushing cheeks. "And I'm not exactly a young woman," She blurted. _

_ "__It's freezing, actually," Joshua pointed out, shrugged out of his leather jacket and wrapping it around her petite frame, revealing the thick grey sweatshirt, covering his rock band tee shirt. _

_ "__Well, now you're going to be cold," Maya pointed out stubbornly. _

_ "__It's not that cold," Joshua teased her. _

_ "__Whatever-anyways, my father isn't upset with himself about anything. He's successful and happy and pleased with himself because he's got a brand new, perfect little-"_

_ "__Hey-look, mistletoe," Joshua cut her off, gesturing towards the leafy green plant hanging in the window, inside of the apartment they were standing outside of. _

_ "__We're not exactly underneath it," Maya shrugged. _

_ "__Close enough-and you know what tradition says," Joshua winked. _

_ Maya froze, no quick-witted remark coming from her mouth. Instead, she just stared up at him in complete shock, lips parted slightly as her mouth dropped in shock. And Joshua took that as his go-ahead, placing one hand on her hip and bring the other one up to frame her face, cupping her cheek with his large palm, using his thumb to guide her chin up to face him. _

_ And then he closed the distance between them, claiming Maya__'s first kiss-something she had managed to do before Riley-because the Farkle kiss didn't count, as it had just barely made it onto her lips. _

_ Maya blinked as soon as Joshua__'s soft lips met hers, but then she responded, placing her hands on his shoulders, unsure of what she should do with them. Slowly, she wrapped her fingers around his shoulders, gripping onto them loosely, and pulled herself a little closer, rising to her tip toes. _

_ And then it was over, and she was stepping back, as was he. _

_ "__Sorry…I'm probably not very good at that…I don't really have a lot of experience," Joshua admitted, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck nervously. _

_ "__It was my first kiss," She admitted, biting down on her bottom lip. _

_ "__Well, now I feel bad that I suck," Joshua frowned. _

_ "__You don't suck," Maya giggled. _

_ "__Well, wanna try it again?" He asked, flashing her a goofy grin that she had never seen on his face before. _

_ She grinned, not really giving him an answer as she stepped towards him, allowing his arms to wrap around her waist and pull her closer to him, one hand guiding her arms up to his neck, where she took the hint and wrapped them around, using that leverage to pull his face closer to hers. _


	10. Realizations, Decisions and Plans

**Sugar We're Going Down Swinging  
>A Girl Meets World Fan Fiction Series<br>Chapter 10: Decisions, Realizations and Plans**

Joshua and Maya had a very colorful past. From that first kiss onwards, there was always something that hinted that they would end up together. Joshua started coming to visit Cory in New York City ever long weekend or school break. He spent a month in the city each summer, and the girls would travel down for two weeks in Philadelphia with Cory's parents.

Every time that Riley and her family went to visit her grandparents, Maya was brought to tag along. And when Shawn invited Maya to do something with him, he always made sure to invite Joshua along with them.

After one of their may visits, Joshua had slipped Maya his phone number, creating their constant strings of texts going back and forth to one another. Somewhere along the line, Maya had taken to calling Joshua whenever she needed somebody to talk to, when she was able to think coherently and focus on the fact that Lucas belonged to Riley and Maya needed to understand that.

They were best friends, and everything that Maya felt towards Lucas was felt towards Joshua. If there was somebody who could rival her feelings for Lucas, it was Joshua Matthews, because he just….got her. He understood her without her needing to say or do anything. It was like her could read her mind. And, they were okay without talking. They could sit in an awkward silence-something they did even when they were on the phone with one another-and not talk, feeling perfectly at ease with one another.

Maya was an artist. That much had always been clear. And Joshua had a way with words. He lived for books-any form of literature. The only things he loved more than that were movies-he and Maya were known for staying up for hours each night watching old films she had never even heard of just because they were 'classics' in his eyes-and his music. He was a film and literature major at NYU, actually, working to become a screenwriter, convinced that he was going to make the transition from page-to-screen something people looked forward to, rather than something people dreaded.

He understood that Maya had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. That all she was sure of was that she wanted to help people and make some sort of a difference. She wanted to be important to somebody-anybody at all. She didn't realize that she was already important to so many people.

"Yeah, she _does,__" _Lucas said, voice uncharacteristically low as he reached out, wrapping an arm around Maya's waist and pulling her towards him.

"Funny, she's never mentioned you," Joshua shrugged easily. "And she's still wearing my leather jacket," He observed, raising his eyebrows as he took in he slightly baggy, soft, black leather jacket he had given to her all those years ago.

It was long fast being able to fit him. The sleeves were far too short and there was no way the shoulders would fit his much broader ones. It wouldn't even zip up if he tried to wrap it around his solid frame. But, on Maya? The sleeves still hung too long and the jacket itself still wrapped around her with enough overlap to fit Riley inside with her.

"She never mentioned you, either-and she's wearing _my _shirt underneath it, isn't she?" Lucas said, keeping his eyes locked firmly on Joshua.

"That John Addams football tee-shirt? Figures you're a football player," Joshua snorted, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucas barked.

"Just that, you're a jock and Maya's an artist. I doubt you two can carry on much of a conversation about anything she cares about-something with substance," He smirked, raising his shoulders up innocently and lifting his arms just a bit, as if he hadn't meant to say something so hurtfully cruel.

"Alright, alright," Maya said, breaking away from Lucas and stepping between the boys. She threw her hands up between them, as if she needed to physically stop them from coming at one another. But the boys just stood there glaring at one another. "That's enough," She demanded, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

Riley sat at the kitchen counter, a small smile on her face as she watched the scene unfold before her. Maybe she didn't want Maya as her aunt. Maybe she didn't want to make Lucas unhappy. But, with the way things were going, Riley would probably be able to keep her best friend and still have Lucas dating Maya.

Maya was going to need some definite girl time to recuperate from the antics of these boys, and the longer Josh was around, the longer Lucas's jealousy would flare. Which would result in more Riley-Maya time, without any taint from the boys. Which as really all that Riley had ever wanted.

"We're done competing for who has the bigger dick, got it? Josh, you're my best friend and I love you and you were my first for a lot of things, but I'm with Lucas now and I love him, too, so you need to-"

"Maya," Joshua snorted, shaking his head. "I respect that you're with Lucas and all…but I'm not giving up that easily," He flashed her that determined half grin that had always made her heart melt.

"Back off-you heard what she said, didn't you?" Lucas said, reaching out to pull Maya close to him again.

"And you," She whirled around, pushing out of his grasp. "Stop grabbing at me and holding me and trying to rub it in Josh's face! I'm dating you, okay? But Josh is a big part of my life and I'm a big part of his. It wasn't fair of me not to prepare him for this, and you're being an asshole by doing all that you can to make sure he knows about us!" Maya snapped.

"He just threatened our relationship and you're-"

"I _know _what he said. I'll handle him later," Maya said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, _later-_as in, when we're alone," Joshua winked.

"Both of you stop it! That's it-I'm going to Riley's bedroom and enjoying my girl's only night. You two can sit here and finish your dick-size-off or Lucas can go home and you guys will never have to see each other again. I don't really care," Maya said, turning away from Lucas and storming towards Riley's room, pushing past Joshua.

"But, Maya-"

"Will you just-"

"I can't hear you," Maya sing-songed, turning around with her fingers twirling around her ears. "Ba-ba-dum-dum-dum-bu-bu-bu-bum," She sang, dancing her way to Riley's room in that adorable way she hadn't stopped since seventh grade.

"She's just so god damn cute," Joshua groaned, dropping down on the couch.

"She's _my _girlfriend. You can try all you want, but you're not taking her from me," Lucas glared, turning towards te door.

"You think that now….but Maya and I have a connection," Joshua shrugged.

"Doesn't matter-I'm her Topanga and she's my Cory," Lucas shot over his shoulder as he stormed from the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *

><p>"What's he doing here, Riles?" Maya whined, dropping down onto the windowsill.<p>

The blonde had taken a shower as soon as she'd escaped to Riley's room, hoping that the shower would relax her and clear her mind. It hadn't done that. It had just given her time to think and make her feel worse about the situation at hand.

She was currently in Riley's room, wearing a pair of rolled at the waist, flannel, plaid pajama bottoms with a tight, racerback ribbed tank top and a pair of fuzzy socks, her hair piled up onto the top of her head in a sloppy bun.

"I just don't get it-he never comes to randomly visit. Why _now?__"_Maya sighed, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms tightly around them, resting her forehead against her legs.

"What's the big deal? It's just Joshua," Riley shrugged. "I mean, he was acting like a jerk to Lucas, but sometimes guys like to show off around somebody who could be a potential threat, you know?" She explained.

"The problem is just that-it's Joshua," Maya sighed. "I always thought I was going to end up with him. And he understood me, without having to say anything. We connected on this personal level and it was like we were in our own little world together," She explained, shaking her head.

"And?" Riley asked, raising her eyebrows.

"It's just…Joshua's special to me. He was my first kiss-and before you freak out, I know that I never told you, but you always used to freak out about him and me. And, besides that, he understands my art. We can have conversations for hours just about my art and we bond over those dorky movies he loves and those old rock and roll albums he's always hunting to find on vinyl. We just…we have this _thing _and it was so good, and even when I really just wanted Lucas but I knew I couldn't have him because of you, Joshua made me forget about those feelings and the rejection. He could make me laugh when I didn't even want to smile and he could make me feel wanted," Maya sighed, pushing a loose blonde curl away.

"And Lucas?" Riley wrapped her arms around herself, tucking her chin down.

"He's….he's perfect. He's everything that I thought I didn't deserve, and he's so convinced that I'm better than I am. And he picked _me,__" _Maya sighed. "I feel so comfortable when I'm with him. It's just natural," She went on.

"So, which one would you pick?" Riley asked softly.

"I don't know…I always thought the answer would be Joshua, but then I had a chance with Lucas and….well, they both make me feel happy-happier than I've ever been. They both make me feel good about myself and forget about my horrible past. I don't know if I could pick, Riley-I just don't know," Maya sighed.

"I…I'll be right back, Farkle's calling me," Riley blurted out, jumping to her feet and grabbing her phone, racing out of the room and locking herself in Auggie's room.

As soon as she slammed the door shut behind her, she was dialing in Farkle's number, praying that he'd get over his anger at her and answer the phone. She really just needed to talk to somebody. Somebody who could listen and wouldn't judge and would give her advice. And Farkle was the only person she had left, so she prayed he wouldn't judge her too harshly for what she had done.

"Yeah?" Farkle answered.

"I did a bad thing," Riley confessed.

"Yeah, we already know what you said to Maya, but she forgave you so-"

"No, I mean I did _another _bad thing," Riley insisted. "I called Josh and asked him to come break up Maya and Lucas, and now Maya's miserable because she actually cares about both of them and doesn't know how she can pick," Riley sighed.

"Why would you do that?' Farkle sighed.

"Because I was jealous that Lucas picked her," Riley said in exasperation.

"What?" Farkle asked, voice low and full of shock. "What did you just say?"

"I mean…not jealous because I want to date Lucas-I was jealous that he liked her more than me because _everybody _likes Maya more than me," Riley whispered softly.

"That's your real problem, you know? You focus so hard on all the people that like Maya so much and all the things Maya's good at that you never realize that there are people out there who would walk through fire for you. They'd move mountains for you. _I _would pick you over anybody, but all you ever focus on is how _Lucas _picked Maya over you and how _Shawn _picked Maya over you. Why aren't I ever good enough for you?" He asked, but he didn't wait to hear Riley's answer.

Instead, he just hung up, leaving Riley to listen to an obnoxious beeping noise and then silence as the line went dead.

"Why'd you do that?" Riley's eight year old brother asked with a harsh voice.

Riley jumped, turning around to face the curly haired boy with the harsh, cruel, angry expression on his face, replacing the usual sweet smile that he had ninety nine percent of the time.

"What are you talking about?" Riley asked, crossing her arms over chest.

"Why did you call Uncle Josh? Now he's going to be sad because Maya and Lucas are together, and Maya's going to be sad because she's hurting Uncle Josh's feelings, and Lucas is going to be sad because he's going to worry about Maya and Uncle Josh," Auggie pouted.

"Auggie, I wasn't-"

"Riley, you already hurt enough people you're supposed to care about. Maybe you should just stop," Augie cut her off, shaking his head so that his dark brown curls fell into his doe-like eyes.

"But, Auggie-"

"Riley, just get out. Maya will figure things out-she's used to cleaning up after your mistakes," Auggie said bitterly.

"What are you talking about?" Riley asked in outrage.

"Remember the first time you babysat me? Maya's the one who went all pirate-crazy so I'd forgive you, and she's the one who made you realize how you were treating me," Auggie said, climbing out of his bed and walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To go and see Ava-I don't really feel like being around you right now," Auggie insisted.

And when an eight year old was explaining how a sixteen year old was wrong, it really struck a nerve. Riley had no choice but to realize the truth of the matter. She made the messes, and Maya figured out how to fix things. Even when Maya got them into the trouble they were in, Riley's attempts to fix things only made it worse.

This could be Riley's attempt to redeem herself, but she wasn't even sure where she was supposed to begin to try and fix things.

* * *

><p>Maya really didn't want to risk walking out of Riley's bedroom. She knew that nothing good could possibly come from that. But, she felt bad constantly making Riley run around to get snacks, especially when Maya was the one who insisted on needing an endless supply of snacks for their window powwows at their sleepovers.<p>

So, she made her way out of Riley's room, in an old Ramones tee shirt-the sad part was that it was Josh's shirt, given to Maya at her insistence that she loved that band, despite the fact that she couldn't even name a single song by them-paired with grey and black plaid pajama shorts, rolled at the waist to leave even more of her legs bare.

As she approached the living room, praying that Josh was either asleep or in Auggie's room, she paused, right at the doorway, because of the guitar strumming coming from the room. A deep, velvety voice soon found its way to her ear-one that she recognized very well from hours spent in his bedroom, curled up in his bed as he showed her all of his favorite classic rock bands.

_"__But he doesn__'__t know who I am,and he doesn__'__t give a damn about me/__'__Cause I__'__m just a teenage dirtbag, baby/Yeah, I__'__m just a teenage dirtbag baby/Listen to Iron Maiden maybe with me?__" _Joshua Matthews was singing as he strummed along on his guitar-he brought it with him everywhere-as he leaned forward, back hunched in his position on the couch, sitting as close to the edge as possible, the way he always did when he was playing, allowing his hair to fall right into his eyes.

Maya shook her head, knowing that the tip of his tongue would be sticking out and his eyes almost shut as he stared up at the neck of the guitar, as though it took all of his focus to play these simple chords. When, in reality, the boy could play anything after hearing it once and have it memorized.

Slowly, she made her way into the living room and onto the couch besides him, doing her best to make as little noise as possible. She didn't want to disturb him.

Still, as soon as she sat down on the couch, he stopped strumming and turned to face her, that lazy grin spreading across his face. She could feel her own lips stretching into a smile of their own, responding naturally to that smile that always turned her cheeks a pale shade of pink and brought her complete happiness.

"What's up?" He asked, moving the guitar to the ground, leaning it against the couch.

"I'm in love with Lucas,"Maya blurted out.

"I know," He shrugged.

"But, I'm always going to have a special place in my heart for you. I'll always love you, Josh, but it's just not right for us to be together," She sighed.

"I know," He said simply.

"And, no matter how much I'd love to see what could happen between us, I'm with Lucas right now and it just wouldn't be right," Maya went on, as though he hadn't said anything.

"I know," He sighed.

"So, maybe one day we can-wait, what did you just say?" Maya cut herself off, eyes growing wide as her jaw dropped.

"I said, I know-because I do," He laughed. "I know that you love Lucas, and I know that you love me, too-whether it's as much or more or less, I don't even think you know. I don't know why or how you keep forgetting this, but I know _you, _Maya, and I'm not an idiot. I can read you like a book. You're confused about what you want, and you're terrified of hurting anybody in the process. So, you're going to date Lucas and you're going to be happy and you'll let it run its course. And, if that doesn't work out, I'll be right here waiting for you, and you know that, and you're grateful for that," He shrugged, leaning back against the couch.

"Why are you so calm about this and okay with waiting?" Maya frowned, furrowing her eyebrows together.

"Because, Maya-you seem to be under the illusion that I am going to idly wait for things to fall apart. I'm going to be right here, and I'm not going to let you forget about the fact that you love me, or that I love you, or that we belong together. I won't be going down without a fight," He promised, flashing her that confident smirk she knew so well.

And that was when Maya paled and realized it wasn't going to be easy. She wasn't going to be able to have a simple relationship with Lucas. To think otherwise was ridiculous. Nobody would allow that, and she was sure that she deserved it. She had, after all, stolen her best friend's boyfriend.

Now she was in love with some boy that she never really thought she'd have a chance with, while dating the boy she never should have had. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair-to either of the boys.

Joshua didn't deserve to sit around and wait for her. He'd waited for her for long enough. He had spent years wishing that Maya would get over her eagerness to listen to Riley and obey the brunette at all times, and go out on a limb, accepting just one date with him. And now he was ready to wait while Maya dated some other boy-whether Joshua was going to do his best to sure their relationship didn't last or not. He was going to continue to wait for his chance with Maya, positive that it would come to him one day, when what he really deserved was a true chance at happiness with some girl-any girl-other than Maya. He needed to try his hand with somebody that didn't come with all of the complications that Maya came with.

And Lucas didn't deserve a girlfriend who was in love with some other boy, despite Maya's love for him. Lucas should be with a girl who would devote all of her time and attention towards him and making him happy, trying her very best to be worthy of him-because nobody ever was, and nobody was ever going to be. Lucas didn't need to stay with Maya, who wasn't sure what she wanted. He could have any girl and they would treat him like he was their entire world. Because he was perfect and any girl would be foolish not to recognize that factor.

Either one deserved better than Maya, but they wanted her. And she couldn't be happier about it, because she couldn't imagine her life without either one of them in it.

* * *

><p>Lucas had to step up his game.<p>

He knew that he already had Maya. He was well aware of he fact that she loved him and that if she was going to leave him for that Josh guy, she would have done so already. He wasn't an idiot.

The reason that he had to start to put some effort into things was because he knew damn well that Josh was not going to go down easy. He was going to do anything to try and break up the pair of them. He wouldn't rest until Maya was his girlfriend, Lucas was sure of it. And Lucas was not going to allow that to happen-not on his watch.

The fight for Maya had lasted far too long. He had had to face too many struggles when it came to getting her. He had worked far too hard to give up now and allow some mysteriously cool older guy to stroll right in and take his rightful place as the guy on Maya's arm. He was going to keep Maya, because he loved her and she loved him and that was really all that mattered to him.

It wasn't physically possible for him to imagine his life without her anymore. His mother adored her, falling all over herself when he said Maya would be coming over. His Texas friends thought she was perfect for him. She was best friends with his New York best friend. And she made him happy.

If there was one person Lucas felt completely comfortable with, it was Maya. He could talk to her about anything. Not like the silly information he had shared with Riley about his longing to be a veterinarian. He wasn't even sure why he had said that, because it really wasn't true. He'd just felt like he'd had to say something-had to share something with her, to make her feel as though she wasn't a failure at human interaction.

There was nothing uncomfortable about talking to Maya about his father, about his parents-about his longing to move back to Texas. She was easy to talk to, even when she was harassing him because of his southern routes. And he knew that she understood what he was going through.

She had dealt with the father who hadn't wanted her around. She had been forced to drastically adjust her lifestyle. Maya knew what it felt like to wish she were anywhere other than home-for _home _to feel completely foreign. Just like Lucas, Maya often felt out of place where she was supposed to feel completely comfortable.

They were just alike, and things were supposed to be simple. Things were supposed to make sense and fall into place for them.

Riley had been their big obstacle. They had overcome that without any problems at all. Troy had been another problem, but they had dealt with it-whether they had handled it in the proper way or not. There shouldn't be anymore curveballs coming their way, at least, not so soon, anyways.

Things should start to get simple and easy. At least, for a little while they should. He shouldn't have to ask himself if things were going to fall apart so constantly during the very start of their relationship. He had never seen anything as complicated as him and Maya.

And maybe that should tell him that they weren't meant to be. Maybe that was a hint that they shouldn't be together. It was probably a sign that he should give up, throw in the towel and call it quits. Maya would be fine. Joshua would be right there to pick up the pieces for her. Everything would be okay for her and they could savage their friendship.

He should probably try his hand at being single. It was something he hadn't been in a while, after all. Really, in a way, since he had moved to New York, he hadn't had a chance to be single. It would be good for him, really, to try living that single life. He would have a chance to connect with himself.

Finally, he could define who Lucas Friar was, without having it be Lucas-and-Riley or Lucas-and-Maya. It would just be about him, and what was good for him. Nothing else would matter and nobody else would come before him.

But he couldn't bring himself to see it that way for very long. Every time he allowed himself to amuse the thought, he quickly shook the idea away. There was no way that the constant struggles meant that he and Maya shouldn't be together. They wouldn't have been able to overcome everything so quickly, in that case.

Instead, the obstacles meant that they were supposed to be together. They belonged together. They could work through anything. Nothing could ever separate them, because they would be able to power through it, as long as they stuck together. That was the way relationships worked.

When one side stopped fighting, the relationship was pretty much over. Lucas had learned that at a young age. He knew that relationships were always worth fighting for, but sometimes one side couldn't be the only side fighting. It would just lead to bitterness and hatred and anger and constant fights.

So, Lucas was going to show Maya that he was still dedicated to their relationship. He was one hundred percent involved and nothing was going to change that. He was going to do something big-something extreme. He was going to make sure-even if it humiliated Maya for his obvious, public display of affection that should belong in one of those romantic comedies she pretended to hate-that she understand just how much she really meant to him.

How hard he would be willing to fight to make things work for them. He would go down without a fight.

He just really hoped that one day Maya would be the one to have to prove how much she cared about him-or that she might just do something to make sure he knew that she cared about him just as much, without needing it to be in response to their relationship being threatened.

He knew that she did, but sometimes it was nice to see that the passion came from both sides. For the moment, however, he was going to focus on his task.

Still, he was going to need some help to pull through with his plan, even if he really didn't want to have to ask that particular person for any sort of help. He knew it was the only way.

"Lucas? What's up?" Riley asked, voice full of panic as her already high pitched voice raised a few octaves.

"Is Maya in your room?"

"No, she went to get snacks. Why? Did she call you? Please tell me she didn't break up with you," Riley pleaded, voice still excited.

"Calm down-she didn't break up with me. She hasn't spoken to me since I left your place. Now calm down and lower your voice. I need some help, but it's a surprise, you got it?" He said quickly, keeping his own voice low as well, even though it wasn't necessary, since he was alone in his bedroom and his mother wouldn't be able to hear him from her own room, especially with the music he had playing loudly in his room.

"A surprise? Why?" Riley asked, voice immediately dropping to a breathless whisper.

"I just want to remind her that I'm her boyfriend and I love her. And I may want to ensure that Joshua just doesn't stand a chance," He admitted.

"Lucas, she really does love you," Riley sighed.

"But?" Lucas asked, knowing there was more to that statement.

_"__But,__" _Riley sighed. "She really does care about him, too, and she doesn't want to risk losing either one of you," she explained.

"I can't lose her, Riley…..I've just…god, I feel like a dick for talking to you about this," Lucas sighed.

"It's okay…I know how you feel about her. I can see it in how you look at her-you never looked at me that way," Riley said, with a little bit of hurt to her voice.

"I may not have looked at you like that, but Farkle always has," Lucas pointed out.

"Yeah, well I messed that up, too," Riley sighed.

"Well, how about this-you help me with my plan to make sure I keep Maya, and then I'll help you fix things with Farkle?" Lucas suggested.

"You'd do that for me? After all the trouble I caused for you and Maya?" Riley asked softly.

"It's not like you called Josh here to wreck my relationship with her," Lucas laughed.

"Yeah…that would be crazy," Riley giggled, a slight edge to her voice. "Anyways, what's the plan for you and Maya?" She asked quickly.


End file.
